Harry Potter and the Year of Silence
by Yoda
Summary: [Book V: AU] After the events of the previous year an unsettled Harry returns to Hogwarts, beginning a year he will never forget. COMPLETE
1. Disclaimer

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, his friends, enemies and all respective items and characters (beasts or beings) from the novels and novellas of J. K. Rowling are hers by moral right and legal copyright. All new creations are my own fictions by moral right. I also wish to acknowledge the contribution of a helpful friend, Debra Wagstaffe, in my writings, as her quotes from the novels aided me throughout. Any creations of her own belong to her by moral right.


	2. Chapter One

Harry Potter and the Year of Silence

**By Yoda**

****

**Chapter 1 – Family Matters**

****

In the smallest bedroom of 4 Privet Drive, Harry Potter sat at his desk, staring out the window into a red dawn, the faint light reflecting off his glasses as his eyes passed over the treetops of his rooms. His usually bright emerald eyes were dim and unfocused, his tousled hair lay in strands that passed over his face but he made no attempt to shift it. His arms were outstretched in front of him, a wicked scar nestled in the crook of his right arm, from time to time he unconsciously rubbed it with his other hand, and a pained expression would cross his face.

Outside he looked clam and pensive, but on the inside a turmoil raged…

_'Voldemort has returned.'_

_'Kill the spare…'_

_'It wasn't your fault Harry.'_

_'Take my body back to my parents.'_

_'This is not the random work of a lunatic!'_

_'It will be alright…hold on…'_

_'Harry, you can't help him now…'_

_'I conquer you!'_

_'I saw the Death Eaters, I can give you their names!'_

_'The boy can talk to snakes…you still think he's trustworthy?'_

_'You are blinded by the love of the office you hold!'_

_'I will be in touch to discuss the running of this school.'_

_'I must do what I can.'_

_'If you are ready…if you are prepared…'_

_'I am.'_

_'Remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave…'_

_'Trying not to think about it? Pretend it never happened?'_

_'Keep in touch…'_

_'Harry – thanks…'_

Voices ran around his head, memories of the last year, all leading to his current state. For the entire summer he had kept himself alone, he barely communicated with the Dursleys before, now he had no one, he hadn't even sent letters to his friends. He hadn't received any either, not that it mattered, he wouldn't have felt anything had he heard from anyone, inside he was torn apart by the last years events. As he stared out into the growing darkness, a single tear fell from his glistening eyes and meandered down his cheek to fall on the desk.

The light faded from the room, but he continued to stare out into the darkness, his lost eyes shining in the moonlight.

*              *              *

Vernon Dursley was uncomfortable.

His nephew was the invariable cause of this, but for once it wasn't Harry directly.

A letter had arrived from the boy's…school. Normally he would have destroyed it instantly, but this time it was addressed to him. That had been a shock, and that was the reason he had read the letter…of course he couldn't tell Petunia that.

What he read scared him more than anything about Harry had ever done.

So now, for another summer night he sat by the fireplace watching the flames, letter in one hand, and his head resting in the other. He liked the fire that had replaced the artificial light, although explaining how his heater was embedded in the coffee table had been a challenge. The flames danced backwards and forwards, casting shadows on his face as he thought about his nephew, again a peculiarity.

Never before had he considered how the legacy of his sister-in-law would affect him, he had known what had happened to Lily and James Potter, now what would happen to him, his wife, his son? There was trouble brewing in the world, and he could feel that some of it was coming his way.

*              *              *

Albus Dumbledore was alone in his office, a soft silver light playing over his face as the Pensieve reflected its contents onto his face, the light twinkling in his eyes. Every few minutes he would lift the shallow bowl and sieve the contents about or he would place more grey strands into the mix from his head. As he thoughtfully sifted the liquid about images began to form, from them a figure emerged to stand in the bowl as he rested it on the table, amidst the swirling and flashes of Dumbledore's memories stood Harry Potter.

_'He said the protection my – my mother left in me – he'd have it too. And he was right – he could touch me without hurting himself, he touched my face.'_

Harry's face grimaced, _probably because he still experienced the pain, Dumbledore supposed, then he allowed Harry's form to sink back down into the silvery liquid. Sighing he placed his wand onto the table, allowing his eyes to focus deeply into the Pensieve, somewhere there was an answer, somewhere there was a way._

*              *              *

The sun rose pale in the morning mist, gradually burning through the cloud to allow a soft light to flow into Harry's room, its path moved gradually over the desk and onto his face, as its warmth spread into him, his eyes slowly fluttered open. Yawning he lifted back the untidy mop of air from his eyes, not even noticing the thin scar that had rested on his forehead for 14 years, with his other hand he lifted his glasses from the desk and put them on his nose.

The world came into focus outside as his eyes adjusted, sitting up in his chair, his arms brushed against the object on his desk, sunlight glinted off the 'P' badge as he lifted it to his face. Examining it with furrowed eyebrows, silver light played over his face as he turned it thoughtfully, the far away look in his eyes suggested he was thinking about it, not studying the appearance of the badge. With a sigh he pushed back his chair, slipping the badge into his jeans as he stood, moving to the door he opened it then turned to stare out the window again, nothing was stirring, even the treetops were still, with a final glance he turned and left the room.

Harry walked down the stairs automatically, not even glancing into the living room, where, reliable as ever, his cousin Dudley sat, absorbing the holiday cartoons on television. Turning along at the bottom of the stairs he walked along the hallway, past the cupboard that had been his home for eleven years, walking onwards he opened the door to the kitchen.

His aunt and uncle already sat at the table, on the cooker top he saw the egg and bacon, complete with soggy toast that would be his breakfast, wordlessly he picked up the frying pan and began to cook. Behind him Vernon gave his wife a look and she exited quietly, Harry wouldn't have noticed except for the rattle of her teacup over the noise of the frying bacon. Turning off the hob, he put his food onto a plate and prepared to leave the room, turning round he saw his uncle staring impassively at him.

Harry held the gaze with his own, one of distance without a focus, he stood until his uncle spoke, a single word. 'Sit.' Putting the plate down Harry sat, staring once more into his uncles eyes, wondering what he wanted. The answer came when a parchment was placed on the table, Harry automatically reached for it when Vernon spoke again, 'This one was addressed to me,' he said evenly, not stopping  Harry reaching for it, but his nephew stopped nonetheless.

'Your headmaster…wrote to me, told me what happened last year…about your friend,' his eyes flickered into Harry's, he had the impression that the boy was taking nothing in as a blank stare greeted him back. 'Now I have sworn never to have anything to do with your…_sort…of people, and, in preference, I still don't…but this,' once again he gestured to the letter, 'this changes things.'_

'Now in the letter your headmaster has repeated to me all the 'legal guardian' nonsense, even though you do have a godfather. And he gave me some instructions as well, concerning you…well I haven't kept to them…because you have – all holiday…and I want to know why. Why are you suddenly afraid of doing anything? He said to keep you close and you haven't even left the house, haven't asked to go and see your friends, you haven't even _done things…now, that means something's happening, and I want to know what. Because if it threatens __you, then it threatens my family, and I won't see them harmed…now, tell me…please.'_


	3. Chapter Two

****

Chapter Two: 

Harry stared back into his uncle's eyes, instead of the usual fury or anger he met only a searching gaze, as if, for once, his uncle was appealing to _him_. The usual forceful nature of Vernon Dursley had been buried, or even banished as he spoke to Harry, instead he saw a man who cared for his family, a father to a son, husband to a wife, a man who would try to support and protect them. With a sigh Vernon rose to leave the room in silence but paused and sat again as Harry began speaking without realising it.

'The night mum and dad died…were killed, a wizard called Voldemort tried to kill me too…he murdered them first, but…but when he attacked me his spell was reflected…it was mum's final gift…she saved me from him…and he was banished away…I came here…' he paused, blinking back a tear, in his mind's eye he saw the spectre of his mother again as she had appeared to him.

'Last year…Voldemort was…he – he came back…he killed Cedric…took my blood…' At this point he unconsciously scratched his scarred arm again, a quick glance told him that his uncle had seen the mark before over the holiday, it wasn't the secret he thought it had been. 'So now he's back…and he's protected and…and I can't fight him anymore…I never wanted to fight him but it was always me…and only a few people would help me…and what chance do they have now…no one can help, not even Dumbledore.' He looked up again and Vernon saw hot tears spilling down the boy's cheeks.

'My world is going to be torn apart…and I can't do a thing about it…and what's worse is _people think I can_…I'm just a normal boy, I can't do anything…and _he'll_ be after me because he knows that…' At this point he saw a nervous flicker pass through his uncle's eyes. 'Don't worry…he can't get to me here…he's after me but can't get me here…and that means he'll never get you, or Aunt Petunia or Dudley.'

'Why?' Vernon asked softly, his usually loud voice quieter than Harry ever remembered.

'Dumbledore.' Harry stated evenly, his voice extruding confidence for the first time in the conversation. 'He's protecting me somehow, and he'll die before he lets Voldemort get to me…get to us.' He looked up again, straight into his uncle's eyes before continuing, and Vernon saw the tears had stopped, but there was still fear in his nephew's eyes. 'That's why I'm scared…why I haven't done a thing…because if I die then others can fight, but if Dumbledore dies we'll lose…and without anyone left to oppose him…Voldemort will take over all our worlds…and – and I can't watch that happen… hiding in here…I can't watch him destroy more lives…'

Harry let his voice trail away in silence as he stared into his uncle's eyes, what he saw there was sympathy, but also thoughtfulness as he took in the information, after a few minutes he nodded to himself, retrieved the letter, and rose while speaking. 'Thank you…and…try not to worry about it…your Professor mentioned you'd take the burden…don't. I have to go now…discuss this with your aunt.' On the way out the door he gave Harry's shoulder a firm squeeze of reassurance, 'Your headmaster sounds like a sensible…man…take his advice; he says it would be ok for you to visit your friend…Rob?'

'Ron.' Harry replied silently, his face still lost in worry.

'Well, Ron then…anyway, his mother sent me a letter again…' Vernon paused as he remembered the stamp laden envelope being delivered once again, 'they arranged everything with your professor, they'll be here this afternoon.' He put the letter back into his pocket as he left, 'Why don't you go and pack now? Take your mind off of things for a while,' then he let the door swing shut behind him, leaving Harry to sit in the kitchen, his eyes once more focused somewhere else.

It didn't take Harry long to pack, even with new books each year he could put them all into one corner of his trunk, clothes were then strategically placed so he could accommodate all of his treasured possessions. First in was his Firebolt, followed by the servicing kit, still unused on the highly polished broom. Free of its sock prison, the Sneakoscope slotted into a corner with Sirius's penknife, and then there were his birthday presents.

This year only packages had arrived, no letters, as if everyone had sensed his mood. Despite this, and also being off the previous year's diet, Harry had received a cake from the Weasleys, half of which he wrapped carefully and placed beside the Quidditch annual they had given him. On top of this he placed _'A Professional Guide to Dragons'_ which had arrived courtesy of Hagrid with the usual school letters, these were placed unopened inside the front cover of the book.

Harry had no idea where to pack Hermione's gift which she he assumed she had sent from Bulgaria or wherever she had been this year, although he suspected Viktor Krum had helped her pick it. They had given him an enchanted ice sculpture of a dragon, a Hungarian Horntail, which he had found did not melt after leaving it in full sunlight for a day, but did fight with the miniature he had received in the Triwizard Tournament.

Shrugging he placed it on his shoulder to perch while he put the other in the trunk, safely contained in a box he had purloined from the cupboard under the stairs. Finally he packed his loose quills and parchment on the top, leaving enough space to easily fit his any new schoolbooks he'd buy, and his uniform for the train journey. On top of all of this he placed the piece of paper marking his return to Hogwarts, only 8 squares were left unmarked.

Closing the lid Harry sat down on top of the trunk and opened his right hand to look at the final gifts he had received, sunlight glinting off his glasses as it reflected off of them. the first, and most unexpected of all, had come from Dumbledore.

It was a pin of gold, outlined in the shape of a phoenix rising through a ring of fire.

He didn't know why, but just holding the badge sent an infusion of warmth through his body, easing the pain that he so often felt. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out the Prefect badge, the silver felt cool and hard compared to the golden warmth and softness of the phoenix. With a sigh he put the badge back on his shirt and pinned the phoenix onto his shirt, letting the warmth flow into his chest as he turned to the other gift.

From Sirius, it was a simple gold chain with a pendant hanging underneath, a blood red jewel set in a gold backing that sent rays of light reflecting outwards as they were trapped in its smooth, teardrop like curve. Watching the rays for a second he let the tear twist in the air before putting the chain around his neck and tucking the pendant inside his shirt.

With a small grunt he lifted his trunk, once again he had grown over the summer, not only upward, but also his strength had increased with his improved diet. Preparing to leave the room he instead dove to the floor as he dropped the trunk and his window slammed inwards.

Harry's wand was in his hand even as he realised what had sent the window flying open, feathers settled as Pigwidgeon fluttered dazedly onto the trunk, collapsing with a small hoot as his eyes tried to focus on Harry. Dusting off his robes Harry took the small letter from the owl's leg:

__

Hi Harry!

This is just a quick note to let you know that Ron, Fred and George are coming by fire at around 4:00, mum didn't know if anyone told your uncle in the letters.

Love Ginny

Smiling Harry stuffed the note into his pocket with the Prefect badge, it was classical Mrs. Weasley to worry like that, checking his watch Harry found it was way before four, but lifted the trunk anyway as 'Pig' launched himself out the window again. With a smirk Harry watched the uneven path he took through the air, narrowly avoiding the trees behind the house before dipping into the distance. Turning back he kicked the door open enough to manoeuvre the trunk through and took it downstairs.

The living room was deserted apart from a roaring fire, putting the trunk down Harry went into the kitchen but found no sign of the Dursleys, walking back upstairs he found Hedwig already perched on his windowsill. 'Flying then?' he asked, stroking the plumage on her chest, with an affectionate nip she spread her wing wide, 'I'll see you at The Burrow,' he said, then watched as she too swooped out of the window, flying purposefully straight until dwindling into the distance.

Grabbing her cage Harry went back downstairs and placed it on top of the trunk, it was only after sitting down on it again he noticed the small letter perched on the fireplace. With a small frown he took it and read it after resuming his place on the trunk:

__

Harry,

I have taken Dudley and your aunt into town, they weren't too enthusiastic about meeting your friend again. I expect we'll see you next summer at London. 

Have a good term,

Uncle Vernon

Harry reread the last line a few times and let a small smile creep onto his face, taking the envelope he put the note onto the fire and watched it burn away, the flames blackening the paper until it crumbled away. With an almost contented air about him he sat down in the chair opposite the fire and watched the flames dance, gradually falling asleep once more.

He awoke when a whooshing sound echoed into the room and he saw the flames flicker and twitch, standing up quickly he was in time to lend Ron an arm as he stumbled out balancing a jar in his arms, looking up at Harry he grinned and Harry saw that his teeth were multicoloured.

'Crazy Colour Candy,' Ron said, 'courtesy of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes', breaking into a smile he embraced Harry warmly. Another whooshing heralded the arrival of Fred, and then George both of whom wore white robes covered in scorch marks and splashes of colour. 'They've been at it all summer,' Ron explained with another grin.

'Yeah, thanks to an anonymous benefactor,' George said with a sly wink at Harry.

'Anyway,' Fred continued, 'we've got to get you back soon, mum's just put on some tea.' Lifting the trunk with George he stepped into the fireplace as Ron threw some Floo powder from the jar into it, with a cry of 'The Burrow!' he disappeared.

Taking Hedwig's cage from Harry, Fred followed a few seconds later, then Ron gave Harry a handful before disappearing once more with the jar balanced in his arms. Taking a last glance around Harry threw the powder into the fire, then watched the Dursleys' living room spin away quickly, tucking in his elbows Harry held the post until the spinning slowed as he neared the Weasleys' fireplace.

But leaning forward too early he found himself sprawling on the floor of an entirely different room.


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three: Inner Flame  
  
A shriek of laughter rang out as Harry replaced his glasses and levered his elbows, successfully peeling his nose out of the carpet he had fallen onto. He was about to look up at the source of the laughter when the effects of the Floo Powder decided to wear off and his trainers caught fire. With this in mind his brain decided the best course of action was to jump up and yell, so he did.  
  
Flames danced at his feet as a figure blurred past, still giggling infectiously, grabbed a jar of ink from a desk and threw it over his trainers with a sizzling hiss. Harry looked down at his inky black and smoking trainers before looking up into the face of a shaking Ginny Weasley. Holding one hand over her mouth, her bright hazel eyes wide as she giggled into her palm as Harry stood, looking extremely sheepish wearing his sodden footwear.  
  
'Um…hi?' he tried, resulting only in Ginny's hand flying away to grab her sides as she burst out laughing, her infectious giggle spreading throughout the room. Standing there, Harry felt a smile creep onto his face for the first time in weeks. 'So…how did I get here? And where is here?' he asked as she gained control of herself.  
  
'Here is my room,' she replied, 'which used to be Percy's'  
  
'Used to be?'  
  
Ginny's face fell a bit, 'He moved out. He and Dad were arguing about something to do with the Ministry…Anyway, I got his room so Dad unblocked the fireplace.' Her face lifted again as she continued, 'so far Ron's fallen in twice, Fred and George six times and Mum once, you're number ten.'  
  
'Well I'm honoured,' Harry replied, his smile becoming a wry grin, 'but I think we should go downstairs before your mum starts panicking.'  
  
'You lost Harry?!!' a Mrs. Weasley yell echoed up from downstairs through the fireplace.  
  
'Too late,' Ginny said, a grin lighting up her face again, 'Come on, I'll take you downstairs.' Leaving inky footsteps behind him, Harry followed her out of the room and down the stairs.  
  
* * *  
  
'You see?' a voice hissed in the darkness. 'You see how easily he could be taken?' there was silence in the sparsely lit room as the proposal was considered.  
  
'You're right…' an older voice replied, '…something must be done regarding this.'  
  
'I have a suggestion,' a new voice, male, middle-aged, 'Kilmorie.'  
  
'Julian?' Female, old again, 'I thought he was dead.'  
  
'Thought or hoped?' the first voice hissed again causing an intake of breath. 'I agree, use him,' he added before the other voice could argue back.  
  
'Reluctantly,' she replied, 'you have my agreement.'  
  
'Very well…I will inform Julian of his task…he should be able to merge well, especially after last year when Crouch managed to.'  
  
'Don't remind me,' the first voice hissed, 'but Julian will be good. Just fix this now.' There was a short silence followed by a swift padding of feet as they left, then two more pairs followed leaving only the old voice in the shadows.  
  
'Nothing to add but silence?' he asked as another person stepped away from the wall, where they had been standing silently in the shadows.  
  
'What is there to add? If the boy can be taken Julian will take care of it, he takes care of most things.' Once more footsteps receded, leaving the one voice alone, considering what had to be done.  
  
* * *  
  
At Hogwarts the teachers were preparing for another year, but a year that would bring what? Severus Snape had an idea, yet at the same time no idea. Was his betrayal known to Voldemort? And would the Dark Lord's supposed plans for the wizarding world come into effect? He knew the answers revolved around one person.  
  
One boy.  
  
Harry Potter.  
  
* * *  
  
At that moment Harry entered the kitchen with Ginny, just in time to see George dive out the window as a flying dishcloth shot after him. With it's target gone, the cloth flew round and hit the nearest face with a wet slap. Behind the table, Ron and Fred let out howls of laughter as Ginny pulled the soaking rag off of Harry's face. Before he could say anything Mrs. Weasley bustled across the room and grabbed him into a crushing hug. 'Oh Harry! When I'd heard they'd lost you! And you were only upstairs!' she went on like this until Ginny noticed Harry's flailing arms sticking out around her.  
  
'Mum…Mum? I think Harry would like to breathe now…' she said, pulling her mother's arms away from a smiling, yet blue-faced Harry.  
  
Five minutes later everyone, including George who had clambered back in the window after replacing the Begonia that had attached to his head on landing, sat around the kitchen table. 'Did the same thing myself,' Mrs. Weasley remarked as she poured juice, 'A good thing you fell out early instead of late, imagine falling out of the Lovegood's fireplace!'  
  
As the conversation began to flow Harry found himself relaxing, a familiar warmth crept back into him as he watched Fred and George joke, listened to Ron's holiday tales while his mum interrupted him, watched Ginny laughing at her brother's antics.  
  
Watched Ginny.  
  
That brought a jolt to his stomach and his eyes developed a sudden attraction towards the ceiling, that had struck him like a bolt out of the blue. How many times had he seen Ginny before? Millions…How many times had he watched her?  
  
Harry's eyes focused on motion and saw Mr. Weasley's clock hand spin from 'Office' to 'Home', a few seconds later he walked into the kitchen, pulled out a chair and collapsed into it. His eyes were heavy and Harry saw bags underneath them, Mr. Weasley gave him a small smile and nod, then began silently eating. As the other Weasleys received their dinners Harry noticed everyone had gone quiet.  
  
Eating quickly, Harry finished at the same time as Ron and they quickly excused themselves, heading straight upstairs to the radioactive orange glow of Ron's room.  
  
'Things are bad at the Ministry?'  
  
'You have no idea,' Ron replied, 'And Dad won't tell us why, but we know it's because Vol–You–Know,' catching Harry's glance he smiled at his manner, 'Because He's back.'  
  
'Yeah…he is back.' An uneasy silence settled that was only broken when Ron exhaled loudly and asked the question:  
  
'Harry…what did happen…that night?' Seeing Harry pale he added: 'You don't have to – ' but he already was.  
  
Everything.  
  
And just telling Ron lifted some of the unease that Harry had felt building up over the summer, but afterwards Harry still felt queasy. There was another long silence as Ron let the events flow through his mind, 'So then…he is back.'  
  
'Yeah, and he's protected as well,' voicing a fear Ron already knew to be bothering Harry.  
  
'But you stopped him,' Ron said, his eyes staring into Harry's, 'you stopped him before and you can do it again…and I'll be there to help.' Reaching out he waited, then grasped Harry's hands when it was extended. 'Together?'  
  
'Together.' Harry's grim smile met Ron's own, and caught up in the folds of his jumper, neither saw the phoenix badge glowing brightly over Harry's heart.  
  
The next week passed like a blur to Harry with only a few things to focus on. The first, and most regrettable, had been homework, even with Ron's help Harry was a bit behind after a lax year, but at least Divination presented no problems. Fortunately the second focus had helped when Hermione arrived at the burrow on the Friday, with her help Harry finished off the final piece of his work on that evening.  
  
Harry's final focus, and one that he wasn't sure he should have, was Ginny. Every day he seemed to be seeing more and more of her, and it was driving him close to some form of madness from what he could tell. Thinking about her he could see why this was happening, she was one of his good friends, he enjoyed being around her, and thought the same was true for her. She was very attractive as well and…and then the though popped into his head:  
  
Ron's little sister.  
  
OK. Only a year…but still. After a week of this Harry was almost glad to be going to Diagon Alley on the Saturday, Getting away with Ginny he thought, dozing off when his eyes slammed open, from, not with, he meant from…  
  
Didn't he? 


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four: Dreams and Reality**

_He stood alone, but knew someone else was there in the darkness with him, a swift turn brought a familiar face into view. A smile crept to his face that ceased when something flickered in the corner of his eye. Turning back again he saw the shadows shifting, felt a shudder wrack his body. A grating of steel made him whirl again as a swish and flick cut the air around him._

_'There comes a time Harry when our Enemy's power will mean retreat is your only option. Retreat Harry. Draw him away from those you seek to protect. Only a fool thinks retreat is the coward's option.'_

Harry awoke with an almost twitch nervousness after a restless night where his mind had been determined to deceive and trick him. After eventually getting to sleep, and he must have done so because he remembered waking four or five times, Harry recalled he had been troubled.

Dreams.

His haunting dreams were returning once again, sitting in a patch of sunlight he ran his hand through his tousled hair, felt his scar on his forehead, there was no pain emanating as he ran a finger down it. A creak nearby made him jump slightly as Ron sat up, his hair striving to reach every corner of the bedroom at once.

Harry almost told Ron about the sleepless night but found he couldn't recall many details of the dream, unlike the usual ones it was cloudy in his memory, not so vivid. He'd had the impression of steel grating, something cutting through the air around him, and shadows…something in the shadows, or was it the shadows themselves he had seen.

A message?

Blinking the thoughts aside Harry pulled on a shirt and walked downstairs with an equally bleary eyed Ron, making their way to the kitchen and slumping down in the chairs that were by the table. Hermione already sat there munching toast, judging from the other noises that could be heard in the rest of the house the rest of the Weasleys were already up and about as well.

Sitting up Harry managed a weak smile when she slid him a slice of toast across the table, devouring his toast while Ron remained slumped over the table, 'Mornings should be made illegal,' he groaned earning a small frown of disapproval from Hermione before a small grin returned to her face.

'Looking forward to the day out?' she asked Harry as he munched the toast.

'Yeah,' he replied, ' I need a break,' he uttered the words without thinking.

'From what?' Hermione asked while Ron watched the exchange between the two as he began to munch on his toast.

'Um…work?' he said, unsuccessfully hiding the fact he wanted to be elsewhere. 'What?' he asked as Ron looked at him with jam oozing from between his toast, 'I need a break.'

Before Ron could point out the summer holidays were a break, Mrs. Weasley walked in and shooed them upstairs to get dressed, 'We're leaving in ten minutes!' she shouted as Ron complained his way up the stairs with Harry following, a small grin on his face.

Nine minutes later; Harry, Hermione and the six Weasleys were crowded into the kitchen, each holding a small pile of Floo Powder as Mr. Weasley started the fire. One minute later the room was empty with only a wisp of smoke  curling out from the fire and snaking up the chimney.

*              *              *

'You see the target?' the cloaked figure asked as the group emerged into Diagon Alley, a shorter figure beside him nodded once but did not utter a reply. 'Find out what you need, return later, understood?' another silent nod answered his question. Deep in his hood Lucius Malfoy curled a lip in distaste as the other figure crept into the crowd, turning back down the alleyway he vanished as the figure began to stalk the group.

As they entered Gringotts the figure slipped aside and crouched down by one of the pillars supporting the bank, withdrawing into the shadows. At least someone glancing would assume this, looking more closely they would notice it had shrunk into the shadows, it was now half of the normal size it had assumed earlier. Waiting inside its black shroud, the figure didn't stir until the group emerged once more from the bank, its hooded feature immediately focusing on Harry.

Standing again the figure emerged at Harry's height, following him as he split from the group with Hermione, Ron and Ginny. It was with a  sense of satisfaction the figure noted the subconscious coupling within the group as it let the blade slide from the shroud's sleeve into its hand.

Walking more quickly the figure approached the group among the bustle of the crowd, cutting to the edge as they moved aside to look into a nearby shop window. Now was the time. Changing the grip so the blade projected from the bottom of the figure's fist, it moved with a blur towards the group. Harry's forehead burst into sudden agony and he leant forwards with a gasp against the window, beside him Ginny leant over into the path of the descending blade.

There was a clash of steel as man erupted from the crowd in a blur of motion, a thin blade parrying  the figure's blade and wrestling it aside into an alleyway before anyone could notice. Kicking the figure back he whipped back his cloak, making to grasp a sword's handle, instead he snapped his hand upwards and head sideways to pull the speeding blade from the air. Sunlight flashed off the blade into his eyes and when it cleared the figure had gone, seconds later Ron emerged in the alleyway, but the man had also disappeared.

Back in the street, Harry felt the pain lessen and allowed Ginny and Hermione to pull him upright, none of them had seen the blade and Ron had only been vaguely aware of the two figures who ran into the alley. Treading carefully on the cobbled streets the group resumed their walk down the alley, heading for the shops to get their school supplies from.

From the rooftops the figure stood watching, a new blade clutch in a blackened fist, standing their it began to shift away into the shadows until a small flurry of the cloth like shroud was the only sign of it's presence, then that too whipped away into the shadows.

'Well?'

'He has protection…difficult.'

'How is it difficult?' but silence was the only response, 'Can you take him?'

'Yes…protection or not he has weaknesses.'

'What?'

'He cares…and others care for him…I will take what he cares for…I will take him.'

'And the protection?'

'It will be dealt with, or I will be dealt with.'

'If you fail…'

'If I fail I am dead, don't try to threaten me. What can be worse then death.'

'_If you fail you'll find out.'_


	6. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five: Returning**

That night Harry found he couldn't sleep, not for fear of dreams, in fact he almost welcomed his sometimes prophetic glimpses of the future, the present. No, he couldn't sleep because he was scared what the next day would bring. He was going back to Hogwarts, but instead of his usual nervous energy he felt a cold doubt, as if something dangerous or fearsome awaited him.

Seeking to escape the darkness of Ron's room he had crept down the stairs to the kitchen, his eyes flickering in the firelight as he settled down into a chair. Resting his head in his hands, Harry didn't hear the soft creaking of the stairs as someone followed him down.

'Can't sleep?' Ginny asked quietly, her soft voice making Harry jump slightly nonetheless.

He smiled ruefully as she sat down opposite him, 'It's just…excitement,' Harry said.

'You don't mean that,' Ginny replied, taking in the look on his face. 'You're worried, just like I was,' she continued, and then stopped at the blank look on his face. 'The Chamber, Harry…'

'Sorry,' he mumbled, 'it's just…' he looked up, trying to control the conflicting emotions within him. 'Every time I shut my eyes I see Cedric…just lying there…and I feel terrible. But tomorrow I know I'm going back…I'm going back home and I'm happy…but what if no one else is?' A single tear crept out of his eye and fell down his cheek leaving a wet trail as he closed his eyes tightly, preventing any more tears from spilling.

A light touch made him flinch as Ginny rested her hand on his arm as she wiped the tear away with her other sleeve before pulling him into a comforting embrace. Letting his shaking body relax into her arms. After a few minutes she lifted his head and softly wiped away the tears that had flown down his face, 'If you _weren't_ thinking like that,' she said with a small smile, 'I'd be really worried.'

'Thanks,' Harry replied, 'I think…' he added, smiling at her through tired eyes.

'I better go upstairs, if mum finds me up there'll be trouble,' she said quietly, then quickly disappeared back up the stairs.

Harry sat dry-eyed now, but he felt warmth spreading through him from his chest that was real, reaching beneath his shirt he lifted Sirius's pendant from within. The tear shaped stone was lit from inside, brilliant red patterns swirling on the surface, emanating a heat that was swiftly spreading through Harry, warming his heart once more. Grasping the pendant lightly he let the smooth stone pass the heat into his hand, let his eyes close once more…within seconds he was sleeping.

'What news?' a familiar voice hissed as footsteps echoed around it.

'Kilmorie says he can be taken,' the older voice replied.

'When?' the question was sharp as the footsteps ceased.

'Anytime and anywhere,' the old voice answered in the echoing silence, 'including Hogwarts.'

'Then why hasn't it been done yet?' the voice hissed with anger, or was it something else?

'It was tried, he was protected,' was the calm reply.

A laden silence followed as the first person digested the information, 'Cambirer?'.

'Yes,' the older one replied, 'Cambirer.'

'Kilmorie will take care of it,' the first voice said confidence. 'He's come up against Cambirer before.'

'That didn't end well…'

'This time it will…see to it.'

Footsteps receded once more.

He was alone again, alone in the rain and cold, apart from the shadows, shadows all around him. There was a flash of light and another figure appeared, crumpled on the floor. Stumbling over mud and grass he turned them over to reveal Ginny's face, pale and lifeless. 'No!' he heard his own voice as he lifted her, shook her shoulders in vain, 'Ginny, no! Wake up! WAKE UP!'

'Harry! Wake up!' Ron's hand shook Harry awake with a jolt as he climbed out of the taxi at King's Cross, Harry sat breathing steadily with wide eyes inside the car, unnoticed by everyone else who was bustling around outside amidst the other taxi. Taking a moment Harry found himself trembling with a clammy forehead, his dream had been a realistic and frightening terror coursed through him after the previous night's calmness.

He'd seen Ginny dead.

Climbing out, he barely remembered unloading his trunk with Mr. Weasley, his daze lasted all the way through the station and he didn't even recall passing through the sign into platform nine and three-quarters. His first moment of clarity came when, after loading his luggage, Mr. Weasley had pulled Harry aside as he had done so two years earlier. As he spoke, Harry recalled Mr. Weasley's eyes were darting about nervously, as if expecting the station to erupt around him, 'Listen Harry, I want you to be safe this year, stay in the castle or near the teachers…it's just that if you go somewhere Ron or the twins or Ginny might follow you, make them stay with you in safety…it isn't just you we're worried about anymore.'

Harry nodded numbly and boarded the train as it began to pull out of the station, leaning out of the door he watched Mr. And Mrs. Weasley wave before Apparating from sight. Walking away from the door he found the others putting up their bags in the opposite compartment, sitting down Harry leant against the window, the sun pouring through and warming the carriage. Putting away their bags Hermione and Ron sat down opposite Harry, while Ginny to the seat to his left and the twins sat by the doorway. Within a few minutes Harry had dropped off to sleep again while the others chatted quietly until the twins left to find their friends, without any visitors to disturb them the other three soon joined Harry in dozing quietly.

A rude awakening interrupted them halfway through the journey, waking up as the door slid open to their compartment, Harry found Ginny sleeping gently on his shoulder. But instead of Fred or George returning he looked, saw, and heard, Draco Malfoy, his voice drawling through the compartment and waking Hermione and Ron as well. 'Potty and the Weasel,' he commented with a smirk that appeared on the ever-attending Crabbe and Goyle as well, 'Together again, and looks like they brought their girls as well this time,' but instead of feeling embarrassed, Harry felt only a cold rage inside him.

Lifting Ginny's head carefully he left her lying asleep against the seat and rose to face Malfoy, gripping his wand in his hand, squaring up to his sneering opponent in front of Hermione and Ron. 'Leave. Now.' It wasn't a request.

'It's a free country,' Malfoy countered, taking a step as far forwards as Harry would permit him, also drawing his wand, 'although that will change soon.'

'Do you want another mushroom plantation on your excuse for a face so soon?' another voice asked as Fred, George beside him, appeared in the corridor, wands drawn and blocking the Slytherin trio's retreat. As he spoke, Ron and Hermione also drew their wands and joined Harry, blocking off the interior of the compartment entirely from Malfoy's view.

'Just watch your back,' Malfoy spat at Harry, putting his wand away and turning to leave, 'and watch hers too,' he added with a sneer towards Ginny's still slumbering form.

'You-!' started Ron, lunging forward, but he was interrupted by Harry.

CRACK! His fist connected solidly with Malfoy's jaw sending the boy sprawling backwards into the aisle, the sound of bone-on-bone resounding throughout the compartment.

'Back off,' Harry snarled at Crabbe and Goyle, who backed of in confusion at Harry's sudden rage. Then instead of facing the five simply lifted the dazed Malfoy by his arms and led him staggering away. Breathing angrily and shortly, Harry sad back down, nursing his sore knuckles and glaring out the window, fuming silently until four pairs of eyes drew his attention back inside. 'What?'

'Well…nothing,' George replied, 'apart from where the bloody hell did that come from?' he added in exasperation to a general consensus of nods.

'He was asking for it!' Harry replied. 'He threatened Ginny, it made me mad.'

'Which part? The threat, or that it was Ginny he threatened?' Hermione asked with a mischievous glint in her eye that only Harry caught sight of.

'Both,' he replied firmly, 'first of all he can't be allowed to threaten us, and second, Ginny is the youngest one of us, why should it make her a target?' Harry's statement met a wall of silence, although from Ron's lunge at Malfoy he could tell that he'd also been ready to clout him stupid for what he'd said. Fred and George just glanced at Harry, then at each other before leaving again while Hermione continued to stare at Harry and Ginny. Sitting back Harry let his mind wander for the rest of the journey, not noticing that Ginny had once more turned in her sleep and was resting against him again, only regaining his attention as the train pulled into the small Hogwarts station.

Exiting the train Harry stepped back into a world he had feared returning to, on the platform he could already sense people avoiding him despite the crowding of Hermione and the Weasleys, but still he could feel the gaps in the crowd. Walking slowly forwards he took in the noises around him, the laughter and chatter, but it was still penetrated with silences, one silence however was soon broken:

'Harry!' his name was shouted over the length of the platform, looking up from his slow trudge he felt an irresistible grin tug at his face. Hagrid was there, towering over the new first years gathering, and cowering, near him. 'See yeh at the feast!' Hagrid continued shouting as Harry sent a short wave before stepping off the platform and walking to the carriages.

Harry piled in with Ron, Hermione and Ginny while Fred and George joined Lee Jordan for the journey, looking outside the window as the carriages jolted forwards, Harry stared uneasily as the castle grew larger in the darkness, its usual sense of security was now lost on him. Pulling up, the carriage doors all swung open and the students began to pile out, assembling in a crowd that slowly shifted forwards and inside, standing with Ron and Hermione, Harry stood staring at the looming silhouette above him before walking forward with the others.

Walking towards the Great Hall, Harry was stopped by a firm hand that grasped his shoulder and pulled him away from the others, off to the side of the entrance hall. Harry looked up into an old and grizzled face, two orange eyes, one hidden behind a vertical scar, stared back at him, the man was shrouded in a long cloak and Harry saw that his wand was held in place on an ornate belt. 'With me if you please Mr. Potter,' he said in an even voice.

Drawing his cloak about him, the man strode off quickly with Harry following after a glance at the others, Hermione saw him go and so he offered a shrug with a gesture after the retreating man. They reached their destination quickly, arriving at a familiar gargoyle. 'Jelly Slugs', the man said and the stone creature hopped aside. 'Go on up Harry, he's expecting you, see you at the feast.'

'Thank you Professor…?' Harry left the question hanging, still under the gaze of the orange eyed man.

'Kilmorie,' he replied stonily, walking away with his cloak wrapped around him.


	7. Chapter Six

****

Chapter Six: News

Harry watched the new professor walk swiftly away with interest, his cloak billowing dramatically as he marched along the hallway. Turning back Harry stared up the spiralling stairs that led to Dumbledore's office, feelings once more surging within him as he stepped with anxiety onto the first stair before slowly moving upwards.

Arriving at the oaken door, Harry knocked hesitantly causing it to swing open unbidden, causing the occupant of the room to flip backwards with surprise. Sitting behind Dumbledore's desk had been the last person Harry expected to see, now instead of his feet perched atop the desk, Sirius was lying on the floor behind it where he had fallen off. Rushing over Harry saw a silly grin plastered over his godfather's face and gathered that his own must be something to look at.

Springing up from the floor, Sirius circled the desk and pulled the flabbergasted Harry into a hug, recovering from the shock Harry returned the embrace feeling a grin spread over his face as well. Pulling back Sirius put his hands on Harry's shoulders and studied his face, the grin now smaller but still genuine and warm, letting go he perched on the edge of the desk and nodded Harry to a chair. 'It's good to see you,' he said, 'sorry I didn't write – Dumbledore's been keeping me busy.'

'That's okay,' Harry replied quietly, feeling his smile fade a little, 'I don't think I would have written back,' he said honestly, a small grimace appearing.

'I can't say I blame you Harry,' Sirius said, smiling to secure him, 'I remember how I felt after Lily and James were – ' he stopped abruptly causing an uncomfortable pause, flashing a quick smile to cover up Harry still saw the pain in his eyes. 'Did you get your birthday present though?' Sirius asked shortly, obviously changing the subject but Harry didn't care.

With a smile Harry retrieved the teardrop like stone and held it out for Sirius to examine, oddly enough Harry noted there were still swirls of the red pattern that had formed the prior evening. Seeing the movement Harry swore that Sirius's grin widened as he sat perched on the edge of the desk. Returning the teardrop to Harry he spoke once more, gesturing at the stone, 'Do you know what that is?' he asked almost cryptically, receiving a shake of Harry's head in reply.

'It's called a [insert name here – possibly _liefgemma_], I'll let you figure out the translation yourself, I just remembered that James had one while he was at Hogwarts, it was a gift from his parents,' Sirius's voice was almost wistful now and Harry couldn't help but smile once more. 'I thought I should continue the tradition,' Sirius continued wearing a small grin, a grin which suggested there was something else behind the present, 'just keep it with you, it can help at times as you've probably found out already.'

Sighing Sirius slipped off the edge of the desk and walked back around, lifting up Dumbledore's chair once more and sitting down, 'I did have a proper reason for seeing you though…' he continued, his eyes now more serious, 'Dumbledore asked me to explain what's happened since Voldemort's return as you've been out of touch…' an almost oppressive silence settled on the usually warm atmosphere of Dumbledore's office as Sirius left the statement hanging in the air.

'What?' Harry whispered breathlessly, his mind already racing back to the events of the last year and forwards to the possible repercussions that could await him.

'Well…nothing,' Sirius's face, which had turn grave and serious now took on a puzzled look, his eyes still remained locked into Harry's though, 'It's almost as if he never came back that night, in fact it's even more calm then normal.' Sirius added the last part in a tone that suggested even he didn't believe it.

'But…what about the Ministry?' Harry said, 'Ron's dad looked even worse then after the incident at the Quidditch World Cup last year.'

'Ah.' Sirius's mouth hung open before he shut it to think for a minute. 'Well…you know how Minister Fudge was just a _bit_…_awkward_…last year? Well, you know Arthur Weasley and some other ministry members have started helping Dumbledore?'

'_Some?_'

'Okay, roughly half of them,' Sirius added, a small grin playing on his lips, 'anyway, Fudge found out and he's now become more…_awkward_'. Judging from the slight pauses Harry could tell Sirius was thinking Fudge was something else entirely, mentally he was agreeing with his godfather. 'For now that's all I have to say…unless there's anything you want to discuss?' Sirius asked with a grin that approached sly, '_anything_ at all?'

'Um…not that I'm aware of,' Harry replied semi-confused by a side of Sirius he'd never noticed before, 'why?'

'Oh…' Sirius replied, slightly put out, 'it's just…that I have to go on another errand for Dumbledore and wondered if you wanted to talk about things – I won't be around for a few months.' Standing up Sirius walked back around the desk.

'There's always Hedwig,' Harry replied with a smile before embracing his godfather once more, then he followed him to the door of the office as Sirius picked up his wand and cloak. 'There was one thing though,' he said as they began moving down the stairs to the corridor exit, 'do you know anything about the new professor?'

'What, Kilmorie?' Sirius asked without expecting an answer, 'I'm not sure what to make of him, he seems reasonable enough, I mean he accepted me after Dumbledore told him the real story. Apparently he's been in exile for a few years, he's just returned to our _normal_ lives, I think Dumbledore must know him well – he gave him the job straight away.'

'Dumbledore knew Moody as well,' Harry said quite harshly, surprising himself.

'Good point,' Sirius replied, turning to look into Harry's eyes, 'which is why Kilmorie was tested, including with something you should recognise.' Stepping out into the corridor Sirius handed Harry a parchment from his robes with tattered edges, 'Moody found it after you left, gave it to Dumbledore, and now it's back to you.' Unfolding the paper Harry saw a familiar map, and true enough in the crowded great hall he saw _Julian Kilmorie_ seated at the high table. 'Keep an eye on him anyway,' Sirius continued, looking up and down the corridor, 'he's a clever man from what I can tell – you might actually learn something this year,' he added with a grin as he pulled his cloak about him.

'Are you coming back later in the year?' Harry asked Sirius as he stowed the map away.

'Nothing's going to keep me away Harry,' Sirius said, 'never forget that.'

'I won't,' Harry replied with a smile, embracing once more, 'I'll see you next year?' A hearty bark met his question as Snuffles replaced Sirius, for a minute they stood there, boy and dog before, with another bark, Snuffles took off down the corridor with his tail wagging, Harry watched him leave until the tail disappeared down the stairs at the end of the hallway.

Walking back in the opposite direction Harry made his way back to the entrance hall before sneaking into the Great Hall, up above him the sky on the ceiling was cloudless and starry, an inky black sky allowing the moon to shine brightly, a peaceful light washing over the hall.

'RAVENCLAW!' a familiar voice shouted, and Harry looked to the front of the hall to see the last new student run to the cheering table while the Sorting Hat perched on the chair at the front of the hall. In the brief pause that followed Harry walked to the Gryffindor table slotting into a gap alongside Ron, a quizzical glance from Hermione was greeted by a short shake of his head, Harry would tell them later.

At the front of the hall Dumbledore stood for his traditional greeting.

'Welcome once again to our school, both new and old students, for once I will bore you with the news before the feast.'

'I'm hungr–' Ron's traditional moan was cut short when Hermione's elbow found his stomach.

'This year I would ask that no students go into the Forbidden Forest no matter what circumstances may arise, also please note all Care of Magical Creature classes will take place in the Great Hall for every year. One final note, the Quidditch season begins in a week, see your team captains for tryouts. And now,' he raised his hands and the feast appeared.

Sitting among friends Harry felt the familiar warm feeling return as he ate and chatted, one inevitable topic was the upcoming Quidditch trials and the position of Gryffindor Keeper, as well as who should play the role of the captain since Wood's departure in the previous year. After much debating, Harry's suggestion of Angelina as Captain, despite the fact she would leave this year, was accepted although he received a sideways glance from Fred when he refused to be captain himself.

After an hour of food and drink Harry felt content as Dumbledore rose once more to address the students, 'All that remains is for me to wish you a good night, as always the prefects have the passwords to your common rooms, you will receive your timetables in the morning.'

Rising to leave with the others Harry felt a hand touch his shoulder and he turned to see Professor McGonagall with her usual stern expression, 'The headmaster would like a word Mr. Potter, go to his office, he will meet you there.' With a feeling of dread Harry let the others walk on ahead, he knew that he was not in any trouble, well, not yet anyway, but the one thing he had not looked forward to was speaking with Dumbledore once more, most of the times he felt uneasy having spoken to the headmaster, he doubted this time would be any better.


	8. Chapter Seven

****

Chapter Seven: Dumbledore

Harry sat in front of Dumbledore's desk for the second time that night, whereas previously he had felt comfort, he now fidgeted around as he awaited the headmaster. In his hand he held one of the concerns he faced, the silver Prefect badge he'd kept a secret from everyone, including Ron and Sirius. Thinking carelessly the pin dropped to the floor with a clink of metal, distracting him from his thoughts as it clattered over the floor, coming to rest against a pair of feet muffled in robes.

Harry followed the flowing purple cloth up to the silvery beard until he reached the sparkling eyes of Albus Dumbledore, as always he felt the eyes pierce him as if reading his every emotion. Picking up the badge from the floor, Dumbledore walked around Harry to the desk, allowing him to see the new lines of age that seemed to extend over the Professor's face, in just two months he appeared to have aged years. What Harry didn't realise was Dumbledore was looking back at him with the same feeling, but this ageing had been emotional and trying for Harry.

Sitting down in the chair Sirius had earlier occupied, Dumbledore let his gaze fall on Harry, letting his eyes delve into the boy before he began to speak. 'I understand you will not be taking up duties as a school Prefect this year?' his tone was oddly formal, neither accusing nor understanding, maybe it was this that caused Harry's throat to tighten. 'May I ask why?' he continued, causing a laden silence to encompass the room as his crystal clear eyes pierced Harry once more.

'Yes, you can ask,' Harry replied quietly, a small smile appearing on his face that mirrored Dumbledore's own little grin, both recalling their first ever meeting, during Harry's first Hogwarts Christmas, in the room containing the Mirror of Erised. 'But you already know.'

'I already know,' Dumbledore continued, more sombre now as Harry sunk back, the smile fading, 'Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Sirius…Cedric.'

'They've all been hurt because of me,' Harry continued, 'I can't let that happen again, especially if…if…' Harry trailed off, unable to continue in the silence of the office. Dumbledore nodded, not continuing this time as the thought echoed in both their heads, 'If I'm a Prefect then who knows what could go on? Anyone could be around me when something goes wrong – I won't let that happen.'

'I respect your decision Harry,' Dumbledore replied after a short silence, 'You do realise that your friend Mr. Weasley may not be quite so happy when he receives the badge tomorrow?' once more the familiar grin appeared on Dumbledore's face, but only for a fleeting second. 'This was not the reason that I asked you to come here, I trust you have gathered this already?' he looked deep inside Harry again receiving a curt nod, 'Sirius told you about the events, or rather the lack of them. However I asked him to neglect one piece of news, involving you.'

'You made him lie to me?'

'Oh no, he didn't lie to you, we really have no idea about Voldemort's plans…this is a separate plan, one I believe is the work of an old friend.' On this Dumbledore rose and stood behind his desk, unlike Sirius he didn't walk around the front to speak with Harry, reaching into the cabinet he removed the Pensieve and placed it on his desk. As Harry watched Dumbledore prodded the liquid gently with his wand, provoking a small figure into standing, wearing the black robes of a Death Eater, Harry recognised the sneering voice beneath the mask.

'I want that boy dead, only when he's gone can our Master's plans proceed. I don't care how you do it, kill him.' The scene shifted slightly and another hooded figure appeared, this one was clothed only in black with no discerning features, aside from a long scabbard protruding from beneath the robes. It nodded once, and then the scene dissolved, falling back into the normal watery state.

Harry just stared, for the second year running he'd witnessed a plot to kill him, 'How…when did you find this out?'

'I have known for just a few days, and believe me I am sorry to have kept it from you Harry, you recognised the Death Eater?' Harry just nodded, how long had Lucius Malfoy been planning this? Seeing that he was still listening, Dumbledore continued, 'I know you're concerned about everyone around you, otherwise I would have preferred not to tell you about this.'

'What?' Harry exclaimed, 'You weren't going to tell me that he was plotting to kill me?'

'No, I have some faith in my abilities to protect you Harry,' he added with a smile as Harry turned away, 'I suppose you have noticed our new Professor? I hired him not only because he has experience against the Dark Arts, but because he used to be one of the finest Aurors I knew – he's here to protect you.'

'So was Moody,' Harry replied, not as harshly as he done with Sirius, but quietly, even so Dumbledore was slightly put out.

'I realise you can't forget last year, but I would ask that you trust my choice this time, I happen to know that the man here is Julian Kilmorie, with Professor McGonagall's aid I tested him.' He spoke gently, knowing that Harry was himself uncomfortable with the way he had spoken, 'I would prefer for you to be concerned with the other in Lucius's plan.' Once more he pushed the Pensieve, this time causing the second hooded figure to emerge alone, 'we have identified this being as a Cambirer demon, it specialises in targeting the friends and loved ones of those it seeks to kill, finally it will attack the target when they are weak.'

'And it's after me.' Harry finished, it wasn't a question. 'So…Voldemort's done nothing, but Malfoy wants me dead?'

'That's what I understand Harry,' Dumbledore replied, 'I trust you to be careful this year, no unnecessary risks…if you can avoid them.' he added the last part with a familiar grin. 'Of course, should Mr. Malfoy find another unavoidable attraction to your fist, I'm certain you'll resolve the situation.' Standing once more Dumbledore gestured for Harry to do the same, 'Well, I'm sure you have better things to do then talk to me all evening, all that studying to do for your O.W.L.s, I'm sure Miss Granger will want to start tonight.' The grin remained on Dumbledore's face, even after Harry left, only when he returned to his desk and the stable Pensieve did trouble cloud it once more.

***

Harry emerged into Gryffindor Tower from the portrait hole to find the common room bustling and lively as always, the new first year boys were still grouped together with nervous smiles on their faces, still waiting to be told where their dormitory was. Walking over Harry was blocked midway as Ron stretched out from a chair and grabbed his arm, 'Wizard chess? Before Hermione ropes me into revising with her?' his voice sounded pained but his expression was one of humour as she glared over the top of a book at him.

'Just showing the new ones to their room,' Harry replied, laughing at Ron's over-theatrical sigh and heading towards the group.

If anything the amount of trembling increased as he arrived, with a smile he tried to recall Percy's welcoming speech, but stopped himself before shouting: _Follow me, follow me, quickly._ 'Hi,' he said, leaving a small pause in which a single mumbled, ''lo' was returned, 'I'm sure you're nervous enough without wanting to wait around here all evening, if you follow me I'll take you up to what might just be your dormitory.'

Another smile had them following him up the stairs to the dormitory that had been the home to the seventh years, it was odd to think he hadn't really known any of them, whereas this year he knew half of them from the Quidditch team alone. One flight above his room he opened a door to reveal a surprisingly similar room, there were five poster beds, the trunks placed at the end, although this room lacked the brightness of Harry's, it was then he noticed the windows had been taken out.

Slipping out quietly he left the new first years and jogged down the stairs, intent on seeing if the fifth year room remained the same, he opened the door and sure enough, the windows had gone – but he didn't notice this. Instead he slammed the door shut and bit back a laugh at seeing the expressions on Seamus's and Lavender's faces when they'd broken apart from their embrace.

Half crippled from laughter he walked back down to the common room where Ron was attempting to persuade Hermione to play Wizard Chess, instead he had _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5_ in his hand and was glaring in Harry's direction. His smile increasing Harry debated sharing current events with Ron and Hermione but instead kept his mouth closed as a flustered Lavender shot down the boy's staircase and headed straight up to the girl's dormitories.

It wasn't really a surprise that he lost to Ron in five minutes, he'd been laughing too much.


	9. Chapter Eight

Chapter 8: Jenks  
  
Following his abysmal defeat Harry had gone straight to bed, noticing that Seamus had also retreated to the relative safety of his curtained bed, almost tempted to go and half-apologise, half-congratulate Harry stopped halfway when dark Irish mutterings emerged from the curtains. There was something about the way Seamus had said 'spoon' that made him think that avoidance was the best policy of the time. Changing quickly, Harry had fallen asleep within minutes, however a rude awakening awaited him. 'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!' Harry's eyes slammed open as the tortured voice echoed through the room. This time it wasn't a dream, someone had yelled out loud, someone very close by in fact. Drawing back his curtains he found daylight streaming into the rooms through the wall, but that question was pushed aside as the other curtains drew back, except for Ron's. It specialises in targeting friends the remark shot into Harry's head unheeded. Leaping from his bed Harry drew back Ron's curtains dreading what he would see.it was Ron. He was sitting staring at the small object that had been hung above his bed during the night, a shiny badge in the shape of a 'P'. Trying to hide a smile Harry turned to Ron to see the absolute disgust and despair on his friend's face as Dean, Seamus and Neville joined in, all trying to hide the mirth evident in their eyes. 'When I find out which one of you turned it down.' Ron glowered, his tone suggesting that he also could do interesting things with a spoon when provoked.  
  
* * *  
  
Harry arrived down at breakfast to find one Gryffindor Prefect happy, that was until the other sat down beside her and savagely buttered a nearby slice of toast. 'I mean, what the hell is Dumbledore playing at? Me, a Prefect? Fred and George'll never let me forget it! And Mum - has he even considered what she'll put me through?' 'Yeah,' Hermione continued as Ron began splurging jam over the toast, 'Just think of all those unnecessary things she'll have to get, what did Percy have?' 'His own owl first of all,' Harry replied. 'Nice new robes.' 'Not to forget a jumper that wasn't maroon.' 'You two are heading the right way to finding my toast in your faces.' Ron said, his tone back to normal when he realised that maybe it wasn't so bad. In fact he was arguing this more vividly as they headed to their first class, especially after Pig's crash landing in his cereal. 'I hope it can fly, that's all,' he said to Harry, wringing milk out of his timetable. 'Who gets Pig then?' 'Mrs. Norris if I have it my way,' Ron said, glowering at the owl perched on his shoulder. 'Ron!' Hermione exclaimed, 'You'd never do that.' 'Well, what else is he good for?' 'Delivering messages in the rain?' Harry replied, 'That way they're already wet.' 'Ha, ha. But seriously, who could take him?' 'Why doesn't Hermione, she hasn't got an owl, and we know that Crookshanks trusts him, and probably won't eat him.probably.' 'My own owl?' said Hermione, then let out an unexpected laugh and hugged Ron so that his hair turned an even brighter shade of red then usual, 'Thanks so much.' 'It's only an owl,' he muttered as Harry's face threatened to stretch from the grin that erupted over it. 'Anyway, we have to see if I'm getting a new one,' Ron continued as Hermione walked ahead with a new spring to her step, 'Not that it really matters, I can borrow Hedwig or a school owl.' 'You'll need one soon,' Harry said, 'to send a message to Professor Kilmorie telling him why we're late.' Despite Harry's remark they arrived to the classroom just in time to fill in the front row, Professor Kilmorie was absent although a pure white cat sat on the front desks. 'I wonder where he is,' Hermione mused, stroking the cat that was perched in front of her. 'Will you stop that?' 'Stop what?' she asked Harry. 'What?' 'You said 'stop that',' she said, fixing him with an accusing stare. 'No he didn't.' 'Yeah, I didn't, thanks Ron.' 'For what?' 'What?' 'I said it,' said the cat, causing Hermione's hand to fly backwards as it fixed its green eyes on her. 'And now if you've quite finished?' 'Um.yes?' 'Thanks, no really,' he added, leaping onto the front desk, 'Professor Kilmorie is going to be a bit late today so I'm here instead. So, first of we're going to.yes?' 'Um.sorry, but who.what are you?' 'Name's Jenks, anyway, we're going to.yes?' 'You're a cat.' 'Well done, I guess they make anyone a Prefect nowadays with a genius like you,' he said, his eyes focusing on Ron. 'Anyway, Professor Kilmorie is now going to be not so late as before, and so before he gets here let's at least do one thing?' Meeting a wall of silence that cat nodded, his green eyes flashing in the light of the room, 'Now, does anyone know, who.or what,' he added, with a glance at Hermione, 'I am?' immediately her hand shot up. 'Why am I not surprised? Yes Ms. Granger?' 'You failed the Animagus experiment.' 'Well done, I guess some Prefects are still reliable, you're right, I tried to become an Animagus like your Professor McGonagall, only I.well I'm sure you can see it only got half there. The result is me, a talking cat, essentially I'm still an ordinary man, but I'm stuck in a cat's body. This does have advantages though, for instance I can do that see-in-the-dark thing quite well.' He paused as the door swung open and the man Harry had met the day before walked in, his cape still flowing behind him despite his slow and elegant pace. 'Good luck everyone, I'll see you about the place,' Jenks said, and before the door shut he was out, his tail whipping around the doorframe, 'See you at lunch Kilmorie.' 'Will do Jenkins,' the Professor replied, 'sorry to have kept you all, I trust you found it a mild education to speak with him. You headmaster has informed me that you have progressed nicely on all fronts in Defence Against the Dark Arts, dealing with creatures, curses, spells and jinxes, some of you more than others, but all to an adequate level of achievement. This year I will be teaching you about some of the more powerful creatures you may encounter, one of these will be the Dementor, so I warn you now that practical lessons will be forthcoming - work on finding a happy thought for that. I will deal with other daemons which will increase in their threat until you can ably handle each one, then I'll move you onto some of the more advanced spells, for example, to capture a foe without resorting to the use of extreme force. If you'll take out your paper, we'll begin with the Dementor.'  
  
* * *  
  
Even with Double Potions to slow the week down, Harry found his new timetable enjoyable due to the spread of Defence classes, there was one most mornings and 'practicals' in the afternoons, during which they had been learning the use of the Patronus charm - or in his case learning to strengthen it. By the end of the week he was already settled, but the meeting with Dumbledore still stuck in his head, distracting him from his work as the weekend begun. Leaving his Divination homework after being trampled to death by a raging Manticore, Harry ambled down to the Entrance Hall but found neither Ron nor Hermione on the way, not wanting to return to work he decided to go and see Hagrid. Arriving in the Entrance Hall he saw a flash of red hair and jogged down the stairs almost colliding with Ginny at the bottom, accidentally knocking her school books out of her hands. 'Sorry Gin, I thought you were Ron,' Harry said, reaching down to help her pick them up. 'That's okay, although I'd like to think I look somewhat different from my brother,' she said with a grin that he mirrored, 'He's probably in the library with Hermione.' 'What? Already?' 'Hey - not everyone can conjure a Patronus you know,' she said, another teasing grin on her face, 'some of us need to learn the hard way.' Accepting the books she stacked them back up before adjusting them more comfortably, 'Where are you going anyway?' 'Anywhere to avoid my Divination.' 'Is it really that bad?' 'I dunno, what's it like to have a Manticore tap dance on your head?' he asked, provoking a small giggle of laughter from her. 'Anyway, I'm going to see Hagrid, our classes with him don't start until next week and I haven't even said hello yet. Why don't you come? At least this way he can only unload half of his rock cakes onto me.' 'Okay, but you have to carry half of the books,' she said, dumping at least three-quarters of them in his arms then running out the doorway, leaving him to stagger and wobble after her with the books balanced precariously in his hands. 'No fair!' he shouted as she ran down the lawn in front of the school to Hagrid's hut. Catching up with her he tipped some of the books back into her arms, 'I only deal with light flying objects, you need your brothers if you're going to throw Bludgers around!' Walking alongside Ginny, Harry once again found himself more at ease then he had been since arriving back at Hogwarts, as if her very presence was warming his heart again. Knocking on Hagrid's door, Harry certainly wasn't expecting what followed. The door flew open sending Ginny's books flying from their arms and the two of them crashing to the ground. Over their heads blurred a white streak followed by the black and barking Fang, both travelling at high speed. As Hagrid's enormous hand snared Fang's collar, the white streak revolved itself into a slightly dishevelled looking Jenks. 'Next time, he stays outside,' he said, trying to look serious and failing miserably while his fur stuck out at all angles. Noticing Harry and Ginny, he nodded towards them before flattening his fur and heading back up to the school. Grinning sheepishly Hagrid helped Ginny up, passing the struggling Fang's collar onto Harry who had to anchor himself to Hagrid's hut to prevent the boarhound from chasing after Jenks again. 'Sorry about that,' he said, 'I forgot ter tie Fang up an' he came in after the Professor.' 'Jenks is a Professor?' Harry said incredulously as they walked back into Hagrid's hut, 'what does he teach?' 'I thought yeh would have noticed - he does Defence Against the Dark Arts wi' Kilmorie.' 'What's he like?' Ginny asked, sitting down on one of Hagrid's oversized chairs, 'I haven't had a Defence lesson yet this year.' Surprisingly it was Hagrid who answered, 'If Dumbledore trusts him, then I do,' he said but in his face Harry could see some doubt. 'It's jus' that,' and at this point he paused, 'yeh not ter tell anyone else, exceptin' Hermione and Ron.' His soft eyes had hardened for once and the two knew he was serious, 'He let some of us down, long time ago now. He wasn't involved with You-Know-Who, so don't yeh go accusin' him of such, but he hurt one of the staff and that's why we're not all pleased to see him back.' 'What about Jenks? Why is he working with him - because of what happened?' 'Nah, Jenks has known Kilmorie since school, they were good friends even since the.uh.well y'know. They stayed that way, an' I don't mind either - I knew Jenks, was one of my Dad's mates.' Sitting back, Hagrid let silence fill the hut for a few minutes, then he began with the familiar chat that Harry had come to enjoy over the years, moaning about Snape's unfairness, talking about Hagrid's classes and discussing the Gryffindor's chances of winning the Quidditch cup again. Weighed down with Hagrid's cooking, Harry and Ginny left in time to go back up to the castle for dinner, exchanging waves with him in the reddening sky. Once again Harry was too occupied to notice the glowing coming from the Liefgema hanging around his neck as he spoke with Ginny. But neither of them noticed the shadowy figure watching from the Forest's edge, merging with passing shadows as clouds passed over the blood-red sky. In their hand they held a single blade, tapping it against their hip - then with deliberate slowness they turned to face Hagrid's hut. It was time to begin. 


	10. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine: Team-mates and Trials  
  
The weekend passed in a flash for Harry; Quidditch practice, homework and just being with his friends taking up so much of his time. Finding a new Keeper to replace Wood had been the most gruelling task of all. Not only had half of Gryffindor Tower tried out (or at least, that's how many it seemed) but most were proving as good as the previous captain. Teaming up with the Weasleys, they and Harry had formed a second trio of Chasers to put potential Keepers through their paces. By the end of the morning Harry swore his arms would fall off, unlike the rest of the team he had never needed to handle the ball so often. After lunch, the whole team went down to Hogsmeade after getting Harry permission from Professor McGonagall. Crowding into the Three Broomsticks, the team soon had half the pub to themselves as George, Fred and Angelina began arguing. Eventually, with Katie and Alicia pulling apart the mob of three, they decided on what drinks to order, and began to discuss the replacement Keeper. Fifteen Butterbeers, three arguments and one bruised forehead later they finally reached their decision. 'Right,' Fred continued, rubbing his forehead with a glare at Angelina, 'so who's their reserve?' Before anyone could draw back for another argument, Harry put in his only suggestion: 'Ron.' 'It speaks!' George yelled, faking a spring away from Harry. 'It pushes!' Harry retorted, overbalancing George so that he landed on the floor in an undistinguished bundle of robes. 'It punches!' Fred mimicked, aiming a nick at Harry's chin, 'but only in aid of the delightful Weasley family of course.' 'Or at least in aid of the female Weasley variety,' Katie quipped, shooting a cheeky grin at Harry, who found his face reddening uncomfortably. 'What's there to save about their ugly mugs?' Angelina asked, nodding at Fred and George. 'Ugly mug?' Fred spluttered indignantly, 'That's not what you said after the Yule Ball last year!' Several more arguments and two slapped foreheads later, the team made their way back up to Hogwarts, the twins leaning against each other to walk in a straight line. Inside the Entrance Hall they found an unwanted surprise waiting for them in the form of Draco Malfoy, with Crabbe and Goyle flanking him. Harry couldn't help but notice the rather large bruise that covered most of Malfoy's jaw where his fist had met it. Despite the obvious swelling, Malfoy still managed to drawl around the bruise in his normal manner. 'Out of grounds without permission?' Twitching his robes aside there was a flash of metal, but as Harry flinched the Prefect badge became clear. 'That'll cost you some points,' he continued with a spiteful grin, 'and so early on in the term.' 'Go eat some more knuckles,' George replied with a grin, prompting Malfoy to scowl, 'we were having a team meeting.' 'That won't stop me taking points off Potter, he's not quite a seventh year.' 'Neither are you,' Angelina replied evenly, 'which means you can't do a thing about it.' 'Oh really?' Malfoy snarled, tapping his badge, 'Five points from Gryffindor.' 'Five points from Slytherin,' a muffled voice commented, 'five points to Gryffindor.' With a suitable flourish, Angelina removed the parchment McGonagall had given them for Harry. 'Try and reverse a teacher's decree, it'll just take your points,' she continued primly. Then, flicking her head upwards she led the team away leaving Malfoy to stand fuming, swearing nastily under his breath. A few seconds later a shadow detached itself from the wall, forming into a figure who stalked over to Malfoy. 'Ignore the insult, you played your part well young master.' 'I'll feel better when you've sorted Potter out, why can't you just do it now? Why not just go after him?' 'That,' the hooded figure replied, their voice a chilling whisper, 'would spoil the fun.' Shadows suddenly shifted around them, and in a few seconds they were gone, leaving Malfoy alone once more.  
  
* * *  
  
As soon as the Fat Lady swung forwards the team could hear the rush of feet towards the portrait hole, then the cheer as Angelina emerged. Pushing forwards they all managed to eventually cram into the packed common room, Fred and George clearing a path for their captain to the fireplace. Detaching from the small group, Harry meandered through the crowd to the chairs Ron, Hermione and Ginny occupied. Ducking around Seamus and Lavender, he slid onto the arm beside Ginny, flashing her a covert grin as Angelina drew herself up to announce the new players. 'Firstly,' she began, then realised no one could hear her over the chatter in the room. 'OI!' Fred yelled, hushing the room, then grandly gesturing towards Angelina. In response she raised the roster threateningly but unfurled it instead of bashing Fred with the parchment. 'Firstly, as Gryffindor's reserve Keeper we have decided to go for.Ron Weasley!' A cheer erupted throughout the common room and Harry thought their chairs took on a distinctly redder aura. Ron's face then took on an even redder hue when Hermione let out her own cheer and pulled him into a hug, trying to hide a grin Harry offered Ron his hand. 'Congratulations,' Harry said, in more ways then one, he added in the privacy of his own head, but he was sure he must be grinning like an idiot at Ron. After a few minutes of general merriment the common room remembered that Ron was only the reserve, turning back to Angelina expectantly. 'Right then, the name you have all been waiting for, and just so everyone who tried out knows, this was a very difficult choice.' 'Get on with it!' piped up one of the sixth years, before ducking as Angelina aimed a glare at him. 'As I was saying, thank you to everyone, but this year's Keeper will be.Dean Thomas!' Another huge cheer sounded through out the common room, this time directed towards the chair where Dean sat looking dumbfounded, halfway through a conversation with Seamus. He didn't even notice that his friend was pumping his hand exuberantly. Angelina continued shouting over the cheering as people continued offering Dean congratulations. 'Dean was chosen for his prowess in handling the Quaffle, although we'll just say we'd prefer if he didn't dive without his broomstick during the matches.' She added the last part with a grin and wink that sent the whole room into an uproar of laughter. Harry found himself grinning as he recalled Dean's final attempt to save the Quaffle, which to his credit he did manage. The trouble was he did this by diving off his broomstick and only a host of six year students had stopped his plummet to the ground successfully. When the commotion had just about died down Fred and George chose that moment to let off a set of Filibuster's that doused the room in smoke and stars. Amidst all the cheers and joyous shouts that followed, Harry's ears, and eventually everyone else's picked out a high pitched wailing. Among a cluster of fourth years, Harry saw Colin Creevey shoot up with a yell of agony, red blood stark against his robes. Reaching into his robes, Harry closed his hand over his wand when the culprit burst from the crowd to cannon into Ron. Claws extended, fur on end and mouth yowling away, Crookshanks attempted to scale Ron and grab his head while scratching at the limbs pushing him away. 'Gethimoffgethimoffgethimoff!' Ron yelled, then a yelp of pain escaped him as the agitated cat sank his teeth into his hand. Hermione snaked her arms around Crookshanks but instead of settling down he only seemed more frantic, demonstrating this by leaping off her, aiming directly at Harry. 'No you don't!' Harry thought and yelled, using his perch to duck into the stairwell that lead up to the girl's dormitories. A shredding noise told Harry the Crookshanks had instead bounced off one of the tapestries that hung behind the chairs. Another tearing of cloth followed by a shriek told him that the frenzied cat had aimed himself at Ginny as a target instead. Looking around the corner Harry had the wind knocked out of him as Ginny repeated his trick, ducking into the stairwell. Falling backwards, Harry steadied himself, putting an arm out to catch Ginny as she fell around the entrance as well. Holding Ginny steady, the both of them looked up in time to see Crookshanks spring past the archway, jumping onto another wall hanging, swiftly pursued by a red-faced Ron and cooing Hermione. 'Harry?' Ginny's voice crept into Harry's ears, softly against the laughter echoing in from the common room. Looking down, Harry found he still held her gently, perched on his lap. Feeling his face start to burn, he quickly unclasped his hands, only to find that she had left hers around him. An impish grin lit her face as he stared into her soft eyes, 'Carry me upstairs, running from Crookshanks is too much exercise.' Matching the grin, Harry cradled her back and legs to lift her, surprised at how light she felt in his arms. A few years back he doubted he could have held Crookshanks securely. Walking up the stairs he followed her directions to the floor that belonged to the fourth year girls. Letting Ginny down at the door, Harry brushed aside a few strands of her hair with a warm smile. 'Good night,' she said, standing on her toes to kiss him on the cheek. 'Night Ginny,' he replied, brushing his lips against her cheek as she settled back down. With another smile she opened the door and slipped into her room, pushing it to a close, keeping eye contact with Harry until the wooden partition slid into the frame. Walking back down the stairs, Harry could feel a smile tugging at his face, and the surprising lack of reddening cheeks. Absentmindedly swinging his Liefgema, Harry didn't notice the colours swirling inside once more. On the other side of the door, Ginny looked into a mirror to find her own face smiling back, warmth flowing from her heart, a wave of bliss passing through her. 


	11. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten: Shadows of Danger  
  
Harry found the common room filtering empty as the Gryffindors began to tire of cheering Dean every time he tried to say something. Getting some odd looks, or suspicious in the twins' case, Harry walked down from one stairwell and up the other. Climbing the stairs, he opened the door in time to hear Ron yelp in pain again. 'Shut up you big baby,' Hermione nagged, dabbing at one of the myriad of cuts on Ron's chest. 'You didn't make this much fuss when Norbert bit you.' 'Don't remind me,' Ron groaned, wincing again when she wiped another of the cuts. Looking up, he noticed Harry and the unconscious smile he wore. 'I see you escaped the wrath of the furball,' Ron commented, shooting a glare at Crookshanks who was nestled on Harry's bed. 'Where'd you hide out?' 'Up the stairwell,' Harry replied, lifting Crookshanks gingerly and sitting down on his bed. Leaning against his pillows he put Crookshanks back into his lap, where, after a few seconds pawing, the cat settled, purring contentedly. 'What's on your mind?' Hermione asked, not looking at Harry but instead working on a graze that practically bisected Ron. 'I was thinking,' Harry said, not quite realising what he was saying, 'when I'll have to stop worrying about how much I care for someone.' Sitting there, absently stroking Crookshanks, he was suddenly aware of the silence coming from Hermione and Ron. 'What?' Hermione's mouth moved but no sound came out, but Ron let a comment through. 'It's just a bit grim, isn't it? Why would you say that?' Harry let out a sigh, 'Because I do care for people, enough that it's going to put them in danger.' Shifting his weight he turned to face them, still keeping Crookshanks on his lap. 'You can't tell anyone, I'm not even supposed to tell you - I wasn't even supposed to know.' Almost unconsciously Hermione raised her wand and flicked it at the door, closing and securing it against entry. 'Malfoy's father, he's sent a demon after me, it targets anything or anyone that I care for - anyone I feel responsible for.' 'You mean Dumbledore wasn't going to tell you?' Ron asked incredulously, 'Was he just going to wait for this demon to attack all of us?' 'He just didn't want Harry to worry, did he Harry?' Hermione said, her voice quiet as Harry nodded back. 'It was the smart thing to do.' 'What? To hell with the smart thing!' Ron exclaimed, 'You do realise the demon doesn't go for Harry, would you not like knowing about something stalking you?' 'Do you always have to think about yourself?' Hermione snapped suddenly, and then without another word she stormed out. 'I wasn't!' Ron shouted after her, then mumbled to himself quietly, 'I was thinking about you.' Looking up quickly he saw that Harry had settled down again, his eyes closed and forehead creased in worry, but still asleep. Sighing he drew Harry's curtains, then pulled his own shut before climbing into bed, closing his eyes he felt sleep coming almost instantly. In the silence he didn't hear Harry whisper, 'I was thinking of someone too.'  
  
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Another figure appeared, crumpled on the floor, Harry turned them over to reveal Ginny's face, pale and lifeless. 'No!' he heard his own voice as he lifted her, shook her shoulders in vain, 'Ginny, no! Wake up! WAKE UP!' He heard a grating of steel, and a flash of silver appeared in his vision, drawing back he felt the blade of the dagger plunge into his chest, slicing through his flesh, cold death penetrating him.  
  
Harry awoke, his chest heaving violently as he sat up, dislodging Crookshanks who spat at him, withdrawing his claws. Lifting his shirt, Harry found only small red marks where the cat had pawed through the cloth. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, Harry pulled back his curtains to find the others emerging from their beds, all yawning and stretching. 'Breakfast?' Harry asked Ron, pulling on a fresh shirt. 'No time,' Ron replied, putting his left shoe on his right foot, 'Divination.' 'I sense you will all find an irresistible attraction to sleeping in my class,' Seamus remarked, his voice going all wavy and sing-song. 'Come on,' said Harry to Ron, 'the sooner we can go, the sooner I can go on living.'  
  
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As Harry predicted, Professor Trelawney remarked no less then three times on her belief a tragic death was imminent as the moon cycled into alignment with Neptune. As Seamus predicted, Dean found himself being continually pushed upright by Neville as his face came dangerously close to dipping into the bowls they were given. Throughout the lesson only Lavender and Parvati were successful in discovering images in their Seeing Potions. Slightly more heartening was the fact that one had been of the Quidditch team, and both swore they had seen Ron flying around - although this was more of a disappointment to Dean. Walking to the next lesson, Harry noticed Hagrid emerging from a corridor as they passed through the Entrance Hall. With a gesture to Ron, who had already started walking off with Hermione anyway, Harry went over to where the giant gamekeeper was standing, smiling at the students. A smile that faded a little, but was soon replaced, as Harry approached him. 'Alright Harry?' he asked, his eyes darker then usual. 'Out of Divination I can't help but feel fine,' Harry replied, 'Are you okay?' he continued, his eyes showing concern. Bringing his arm forward, Hagrid pulled back his sleeve to show Harry a bandage that covered his arm and hand. 'Fang got a bit over excited, yeh know?' and before Harry could reply, Hagrid smiled and in a few giant steps was out the front doors. Harry thought about going after him, something was still bothering him.and then it clicked. Fang, Hagrid's arm, there was no way the large, but kind- hearted boarhound had bitten Hagrid, even if he had been excited. Instead of following Hermione and Ron to class, Harry went up the main stairs, tracing a familiar path until he was outside the gargoyle that marked the entrance to Dumbledore's office. 'Jelly Slugs,' he said, then started up the stairs, moving quickly as the gargoyle hopped aside. Approaching the door, he heard raised voices coming from within the office, neither of them was Dumbledore's though. 'You mean to tell me that the creature is already here?' the voice was familiar, but Harry couldn't place it in his mind as he listened. 'Yes,' Harry recognised the bitter tones of Snape, 'and it's already attacked - so much for your idea of protection.' 'Gentlemen,' Dumbledore's calm tones cut in. 'No one is at fault here Severus,' Harry could almost imagine the over the glasses stare that Snape would be receiving. 'And I apologise for not informing you of the attack straight away Julian.' Kilmorie! So that was the other voice. 'As it stands, the Cambirer demon is indeed here, and already it has begun to work against Harry. Don't worry about blame now, instead worry about how to save further allocations of it.' There was a silence, and then Harry heard Dumbledore shift some papers. 'If that is all for now, I'll see you both later, and would you please send Harry in on the way out?' The door swung open, and Harry found himself briefly glaring into the amused orange eyes of Kilmorie before the man swept aside. Walking in, Harry found himself both nervous and confident, watching the professors leave before turning to face Dumbledore. 'You heard enough to confirm your guess?' Dumbledore opened, seemingly reading Harry's mind. 'The Cambirer attacked Hagrid?' 'Correct, a few minutes after you left I understand, he said he thought you'd come back for something. Fortunately for Hagrid, Fang was there, animals can sense demonic presence you know,' the old wizard added the last part as if Harry was taking a class from him then and there. 'As soon as the door was opened he leapt out, the Cambirer only managed to strike Hagrid's forearm before it was tackled by Fang. We've no idea where it went, Hagrid pulled Fang back inside and barricaded the door.' 'But.surely we would have seen it?' Harry wondered aloud, before looking back at Dumbledore. 'Shadows move in the darkness Harry,' Dumbledore replied, gesturing towards the candles about the room, extinguishing them apart from one. 'Who can tell what they disguise?' as Harry watched, a shadow crossed the one patch of wall still lit, and Harry felt, as well as saw, Fawkes land on his shoulder. But just as quickly the shadow elongated, forming a hand that gripped Harry's shoulder cruelly, with a swiftness Harry could barely perceive, a second shadow crossed the wall. He felt his chest tighten as a silhouette of a knife plunged into his own, a painful and terrifying reminder of his dream. Turning his head slowly, Harry looked to his shoulder and instead saw Fawkes, still peacefully preening himself. Turning back, he found Dumbledore had silently moved to stand in front of him, a involuntary shudder ran through Harry. If Dumbledore could sneak up on him, he would stand no chance against a demon trained to kill him. 'Don't trust the shadows Harry,' Dumbledore said, 'they will hide death until it strikes.' 


	12. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven: Hogsmeade  
  
'Great,' Ron muttered, for about the fifteenth time in five minutes, 'I don't know what scares me more, that we know something is trying to kill us- ' 'Or that he managed to hurt Hagrid even when he was thwarted.' Hermione completed, half conversing and half noting down what Kilmorie was explaining on the Patronus Charm. 'Don't call it 'he',' Harry cut in, 'It's not human, I don't want to think of it that way.' Hermione looked as if she would argue, but then nodded and continued noting down Kilmorie's words. 'I don't want to be thinking like that when I have to fight it.' 'Fight it?' Ron hissed incredulously, 'are you crazy?' 'Ron,' Harry replied tersely, 'when was the last time I managed to avoid fighting someone - or something?' 'Good point,' Ron conceded, his face still troubled. 'Thank you Mr. Weasley,' Kilmorie replied, 'I do like to think I make the occasional worthwhile comment in my class. Would you care to expand on the finer subtleties of the Patronus Charm?' Under his stern gaze, Ron muttered something under his breath and returned to scratching notes with his quill. Harry lifted his when Kilmorie took the quill from him instead. 'Enough writing Harry, you already know this charm - and I'd like to demonstrate if you'd care.' Harry opened his mouth to object, but then noticed most of the class were focused on him, while trying to keep writing of course. Nodding his assent, Harry followed Kilmorie to the front of the room, then waited while the Professor went to the cupboard nestled in the corner. 'I've been told you've had experience with Boggarts, just do enough to incapacitate it Harry - they've been avoiding Hogwarts for a couple of years now.' He added the last part with a wry grin that was reflected by most of the class, all remembered Lupin's fascination with the creature and how to defeat it. With a nod to Harry, Kilmorie unlocked the door, releasing his grip on the doors. Nothing happened. Slowly, so slowly that it was barely noticeable, the door began to open, a soft golden glow spilling out from within. Abruptly the lights in the classroom flickered out, every candle extinguished, apart from the one now seen hovering in the doorway of the cupboard. Even as Harry's confusion began to grow into suspicion, he saw the shadows around him begin to shift and spun to see the Boggart, or rather the Cambirer it had become, rise up, a steel blade arcing towards him. Silver flashed in front of his vision, and he saw the knife caught on another in front of him. With a grunt of effort Kilmorie threw the demon backwards as he parried the stab. With a quick spin he replaced his own dagger in its arm sheath, then drew a sword from beneath his cloak with unexpected speed. Striding forward, he parried aside the Boggart's second swing, then drove the sword into its shoulder, pinning it to the wall. 'Everyone out! Now!' he roared, using his free hand to wrestle the dagger away from the Boggart. Harry stood stunned for a second, but a tug from Ron had him leaving with the rest of the class. As they left, Harry saw Kilmorie step back and the Boggart shift, but he didn't see into what form. 'What was that?' Seamus asked, not directing the question at Harry but hoping that he would give an answer. Harry could only shake his head dumbfounded, and as the class filtered around the corridor, he was aware of the space the others unconsciously placed around him once more. 'That was a Cambirer, wasn't it?' Hermione whispered, her voice not carrying to the others. 'Yes,' Harry said, 'I wasn't thinking, I should have realised - what other form would the Boggart take?' 'I suppose it could have been Kilmorie,' Ron quipped, 'he looked angry as hell when he realised what the Boggart was.' 'What's really odd though,' Hermione continued as Harry nodded silently, 'is that he had exactly the right things to deal with it.' 'Nah,' Ron dismissed her idea easily, 'Dumbledore told Harry that Kilmorie had been brought in because of the Cambirer - of course he'd have the weapons to deal with it. And it was quite impressive as well, the way he did.' 'It was like he knew what it was going to do,' Harry added, but even as he did so something was tugging at his thoughts. Dismissing it, he leant against the wall of the corridor, letting the coolness of the stone ease his tension. After a few seconds he let a smile onto his face, and commented to Ron, 'Bet that makes you feel a bit better though?'  
  
* * *  
  
After the scare with the Boggart, Harry found his ease returning, and the routine of Hogwarts soon settled him down nicely. The next few weeks became busier and busier as Halloween approached for the Gryffindors, especially for Harry, Ron and Hermione. With Quidditch practice taking up lots of time, even for Ron, Harry found himself helping with preparations for the feast as well to make up for Ron's absences at times. Despite this, they still signed up to go into Hogsmeade for the first time, or in Harry's case, the second. Once again it seemed that half of Gryffindor tower also wanted to take part, Harry was grateful that some of the younger years couldn't go with them. For one thing it meant Colin was staying behind with his brother Dennis, both of whom were only a few steps away from forming the 'Harry Potter Fan Club' Ron had teased him about. Inevitably, the afternoon before they went in meant Double Potions with the Slytherins was what Harry had to face, as well as the possibility of running into Draco in Hogsmeade as well. However, the lesson didn't turn out to be as bad as Harry had though, despite Snape's usual unpleasantness towards him and of course, Neville. He was just about to criticise Neville's boiled slugs when the unexpected surprise occurred, only a few people didn't find it amusing. With astonishing strength, the door flew open and Jenks ran through, a white blur against the dark surface behind him. With equally astounding speed, another blur followed him, a blur which resolved into Mrs. Norris as she bounced off a table leg in her pursuit. 'Get her away from me Severus!' Jenks yelled, now running along and around potions equipment on the desktops. His normally sour face showed amusement, but Snape ended the chase by brusquely grabbing Mrs. Norris as she ran by his ankles, lifting her up in a spitting ball of rage. Crossing the room quickly, he put her down outside and shut the door before she could sneak back in. 'Honestly,' Jenks muttered, 'women.' Then he notice half the class staring at him with narrower eyes then they had been doing a second before hand. 'What?'  
  
* * *  
  
The tale of Jenks and Mrs. Norris had circulated the Three Broomsticks at least twelve times when Harry, Ron and Hermione entered, just in time to see Hagrid's animated recounting of it. Seeing them enter, he grinned at Harry and waved his hand, now bandage-free and without any sign of scarring. While Ron and Hermione went to order drinks, Harry went over to Hagrid. 'Y'alright there Harry?' he asked, mead on his breath explaining the slight slur. 'I was jus' tellin' Professor McGonagall about Jenks's adventure in yeh class.' 'For the seventh time,' she added, shooting Harry one of her rare amused glances. 'Ready for the match on Saturday?' 'Yes,' Harry replied, 'the teams good and we've finished all our new training moves.' 'I know the team is ready,' McGonagall replied, her eyes showing concern, 'I meant, are you ready?' Harry knew then that she was worried about his reactions, the first team they were playing was Hufflepuff. Images of Cedric, and the match they had played against each other sprung into his mind, but he quickly pushed them aside, putting a smile on his face. 'It'll be a bit difficult,' he said honestly, 'but I'll be able to cope.' Satisfied with this, McGonagall tilted her head to where Ron and Hermione sat, a third Butterbeer waiting for Harry beside them. With a smile and nod to Hagrid, Harry left the table and joined his friends. They spent the afternoon chatting, pulling another table to theirs as they were joined by other Gryffindors until half the pub was occupied by them. Eventually they began to drift back to the castle as evening approached, and pretty soon only Harry, Ron, Hermione, the Weasley twins, Dean, Neville and Ginny remained. Sliding around the table, Harry found himself sitting next to Dean, who was looking downcast compared to everyone else. 'Looking forward to tomorrow?' Harry asked wryly as Dean swirled the remains of his Butterbeer around his mug. 'Yeah,' he replied, 'and no. Know what I mean?' 'Sounds like me, four years ago.' Harry commented, remembering back to the night before his first ever Quidditch match. 'And that turned out fine.' Dean snorted into his drink, 'Yeah, between that nutcase taking control of your broom and you nearly choking yourself on the Snitch!' 'Minor details,' Harry replied airily, as if they had been of no consequence. 'Anyway, there's no reason to jinx a Keeper that I can think of?' 'Give it time,' Dean replied gloomily, 'You should have seen the look Malfoy and his cronies were giving me earlier.' 'Forget them, just get some sleep tonight and we'll go win tomorrow, that'll give them something to think about.' 


	13. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve: Ghosts to Rest  
  
Harry awoke with a shiver of expectation running down his spine. Rubbing his eyes blearily, he threw on his robes before climbing out of bed, in time to see Dean do the same thing across the room. Nodding a greeting, Harry pulled on his shoes and ambled downstairs to the Common Room. As always it was deserted, apart from Dean no one else was up. Moving to face the dying fire, Harry fell into the cushions of one of the chairs, surrounded by warmth and comfort he felt his eyes drop once more. He awoke to see a shadow flash in front of his eyes, then stand up to face him. Involuntarily yelling, Harry sent the silhouetted figure flying backwards in alarm, and only when they settled on top of the fire's mantle, did Harry realise who it was. 'Dobby?!' he asked, his heart racing. 'Didn't I tell you never to wake me up like that?' The house elf grinned cheekily as he climbed down, 'I is sorry Harry Potter, but I is not trying to wake you this time.' Turning his back on Harry, he pointed a hand at the fire and muttered an incantation, when he turned back the fire was roaring once more. 'You is up early for Quidditch sir?' 'Always will be,' Harry replied, stifling a yawn. 'Although for once I feel like going to sleep again.' 'I is not sure you will,' Dobby replied, 'we is making the breakfast in the kitchens, is there anything you is wanting?' 'Slice or two of toast?' Harry asked, and in a burst of light the house elf was gone. 'Thanks Dobby,' Harry muttered. When he returned a few seconds later, Harry's eyes were shut as he breathed deeply and calmly. Putting a tray of toast down beside him, Dobby stood, staring curiously at Harry for a few minutes. 'You is taking care now sir,' he whispered silently, and in a flash was gone once again.  
  
* * *  
  
'So,' Fred continued, and Harry's head jerked upright, why was he so tired? 'Our tactics are simple: Me and George hit stuff, the lovely ladies score goals, Harry gets the Snitch and Dean stops the Quaffle going through our hoops. Any questions?' 'Define stuff.' Angelina said. 'Bludgers, brooms and bugg- '' George began, before Fred clamped a hand over his mouth. 'Well, it that's all.' she prompted, and as one the team grabbed their broomsticks, and left for the pitch. Harry's chest began to tighten as they neared the entrance, inside the stadium he could hear the cheers, and boos, of the crowd. In his mind's eye, he saw the great maze once more, saw Cedric's face as they both struggled to fight their way to the centre. Saw the wave of green light that tore the life from him. Shaking his head, Harry found himself in the centre of the pitch with the other Gryffindors, and once more the feeling of great tiredness hit him. So this is what McGonagall meant, he thought, struggling to clear his head. Through the haze a whistle blew, and with a rush of speed he mounted his Firebolt and kicked off the ground, felt the wind dash through his hair once more as he flew through the sky. As he flew, he escaped the drowsiness of the emotions clouding his heart, and once more found the joy he had known. Looping around he saw the blur of colours in the crowd as he shot past them, felt the warmth in his heart as he remembered the past victories on the pitch. In the background, he could hear Lee Jordan's commentary, mixed in with that of his replacement, another Gryffindor whom Harry had never met, but had seen around. Watching and listening, he let his amusement show when a Bludger 'strayed' into an area near Dean, provoking a fight for the best swear word before Professor McGonagall could take the loudspeaker. Relishing in the flight, Harry almost missed the Snitch as it shot past him. He didn't miss the canary yellow of the Hufflepuff Seeker as they dove past chasing the ball. Diving fast, Harry picked out the golden-winged Snitch as it dodged frantically sideways to escape the path of the chasing Seekers on their broomsticks. It succeeded however when a dodge to the left caused the Hufflepuff player to swerve in front of Harry, causing both of them to lose sight of the Snitch, and Harry to lose his grip on the Firebolt. Flipping over the other Seeker as they flew into his path, Harry knew on instinct that his broom would follow his path, but even so flailed desperately to regain his grip on the handle as he cleared the other player. With a crack he felt his left shoulder pop as he grabbed hold of the speeding broom, then continued chasing the Snitch downwards. Remembering his first ever game, Harry slowed sufficiently to stay on the Firebolt, but not slide forwards towards the small golden ball. Seizing his chance as it began to pull out of the dive, he sped up, arm outstretched and snagged the Snitch from the air as it began to launch itself skywards once more. Pulling up himself, Harry shot into the air with the sunlight glinting off the Snitch. Cheers (and again, some boos) sounded through the air as he flew. Gripping the ball tightly, he let his eyes close as the wind whipped through his hair. Thinking back again, he saw the figures of his mother and father, along with Cedric, all standing by him. 'This one was for you,' he whispered. Deep inside, he felt a tiny part of himself click back into place, settling for the first time in months.  
  
* * *  
  
'OW!' Harry yelled as his arm was clicked back into place. Gritting his teeth, Harry fought against the pain as Madam Pomfrey slid his arm back into its socket, and then rotated his shoulder to check it was in place. 'If you'd just take more care,' Madam Pomfrey muttered, but her hands expertly tested Harry's muscles and bones to see if they'd suffered damage. 'Try not to strain your arm too much,' she continued, 'I'm going to put it in a sling for now.' 'Is that really necessary?' Harry asked, knowing that it wasn't as bad as she made out. 'No, but it will make me feel better about letting you out now, rather then tomorrow morning.' She made the remark to appear tough, but Harry could no longer find her as fearsome as he once had. A few seconds later he left the hospital wing, his left arm cradled in a small sling. He was walking towards the staircase when the attack came. Out of the shadows, a fist struck his arm causing Harry's eyes to burn as he stumbled sideways. Looking up as he thumped into a wall, Harry had time to see Draco's sneer as another fist landed against his arm provoking another wave of pain. 'Think I'd let you get away with this?' Draco spat at Harry, gesturing to his chin with his other hand. Harry could only lift himself back up against the wall for support, just in time for Draco to slam a fist into Harry's jaw, but not with the same effect he had experienced. As Harry's vision span, he managed to focus on Draco and saw that his jaw was still swollen where he had hit him that day on the train. As Draco pulled back his fist once more, a thought snuck into Harry's head, almost mocking him. This is going to hurt. But the blow never landed, and Harry's eyes re-focused on the hand that grasped Draco's fist, then turned it away with a smooth flick. Sliding back down the wall, Harry saw Draco, and an unnoticed Crabbe and Goyle walking away with sullen faces from the cloaked figure in front of Harry. After they had gone, Harry made to stand, but found himself frozen in terror as the grating of steel met his ears. Looking up at his rescuer, he instead saw them drawing a long sword, raising it to their face in a salute to him. 'Your time is limited,' they hissed, 'but know that your friends have even less time.' Moving suddenly, they drove forwards, and a cold hand shot from their robes to slam Harry into the wall. As he hit the stone, Harry felt pain explode in his head and arm, then the rough patches of stone as he slid down into an unconscious crouch. Your friends have even less time.  
  
* * *  
  
'Jesus Harry, what the hell happened?' he found himself shook awake, a cultured voice in his ears. His eyes opening, he focused on the faces floating in front of him. 'Do you want me to get a teacher?' Justin Finch- Fletchley asked as Harry levered himself up. 'No.I'm fine,' Harry said, pausing as his head swam, 'I fell, tripped on the stairs.' 'Your arm okay?' Ernie MacMillan asked, not sounding as concerned as Justin. 'Fine, just strained it,' Harry replied, slightly dazed still. Waving Justin's arm away, he began to walk back upstairs again, aware the two Hufflepuffs were watching him. 'It was a good game,' he said, pausing in his climb as they turned to walk away, 'I know Cedric would have been proud.' Ernie could only nod, but Justin let a smile onto his face as he acknowledged Harry's comment. 'I'll let them know.' Harry nodded once, as if in confirmation, then began walking upstairs once more, trying not to think about the cloaked figure. 


	14. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen: A Birthday  
  
The next day Harry found himself unwillingly wearing the sling, but with no mark on his face where Draco's fist had landed. The attack had left him feeling more vulnerable then ever, but to his surprise, it was not the cloaked figure that haunted him. The hate in Draco's eyes was what Harry really remembered. Often at night he would lie in his bed following that encounter, just thinking of the hurtful emotions Draco was aiming at him.  
  
Trying to forget the incident, Harry once more worked himself into a routine, enjoying the spare time he had between lessons, Quidditch and work. One evening, nearing the end of autumn Harry found his habit disrupted by an unsettled Ron.  
  
Working on tragic and ever increasingly unrealistic events for Divination, Harry was surprised when Ron emerged through the portrait hole. Whereas Harry had taken to working up in Gryffindor tower by himself, Ron and Hermione had spent ever increasing time working together in the library. 'What's up?' Harry asked, seeing Ron's face flustered.  
  
'I am so, so dead meat,' Ron replied, even more tactlessly than usual. 'I can't believe how entirely -'  
  
'I get the picture,' Harry replied with a grin, before Ron's swearing could reach new levels. 'What's wrong?'  
  
'I forgot Ginny's birthday,' Ron whispered so no one else in the common room would hear, his face was even paling as he said it. Harry blinked, he hadn't even known when Ginny's birthday was - for all he knew she never had one.  
  
'I've got an idea,' Harry said quickly, a flash of inspiration hitting him. Packing up his work hastily, he led Ron up to their dormitory quickly. Throwing his Divination work onto his bed, Harry pulled open his trunk and began rummaging. Within seconds he found what he was looking for, the living model of the Horntail he had faced the year before.  
  
'I can't give her that,' Ron protested as Harry lobbed it to him. 'You almost got burnt to a crisp against this thing.'  
  
'Well, I can't keep it really,' Harry argued back. 'It keeps fighting with my ice dragon from Hermione.'  
  
'Fair enough,' Ron conceded, a look of relief passing his face briefly. 'She'll know exactly where I got it from though,' he added, a new look of panic crossing his face.  
  
Harry once more was struck by instinct, although this time it was more a warm feeling in his heart that guided his decision. Reaching behind his neck, he released the clasps on the Liefgema's chain, then handed the gem to Ron. 'Tell her that they're from both of us,' Harry said. 'Then she won't realise what happened. You may as well tell her it was my fault it's late as well,' he added, grinning at the flabbergasted Ron.  
  
A few minutes later, after some steering and reassurance, Harry managed to get Ron down to the common room where Ginny sat among her friends, chatting and laughing. As they approached, she looked up, and Harry saw why Ron was slightly afraid of her when she sent a glare his way that had him trying to walk backwards.  
  
Practically dragging his friend with him, Harry smiled at Ginny as they approached and she turned off the face that had been targeting Ron. 'Here's your birthday presents from Harry and me,' he said meekly, so as not to disturb the balance.  
  
'Thank you,' she replied coldly, but then with a grin added; 'Ronald,' then laughed at the look on his face.  
  
'Sorry they aren't wrapped,' Harry put in. 'We ran out of time.'  
  
'This looks awfully familiar,' Ginny replied, ignoring the lack of decoration, but waving the Horntail model at Harry. 'Do I get a model of you to go with it?' she asked, another grin tugging at her lips.  
  
'Why do you need a model when you've got me?' Harry replied, and this time it was his turn to grin as she flushed slightly, but laughed along with her friends.  
  
Turning her attention to the Liefgema, Ginny's eyes lit up as it began to swirl with a myriad of colours, dancing over her face. 'Thanks Ron,' she whispered, tracing the soft curves of the teardrop, then she put it around her neck and reached up to give her brother a hug. 'It's beautiful,' she said, then turned to Harry and hugged him as well, 'and the dragon's.cute.'  
  
'Try meeting the real one,' Harry replied with a smile, returning the embrace.  
  
Leaving her with the group, Harry pulled Ron away, trying not to smile as he repeatedly muttered 'I'm alive,' with a look of surprise still in his face. To Harry's amusement, he was still muttering this as he left for the library again through the portrait hole. Shaking his head, Harry walked back up to his room to collect his work again.  
  
As he was stacking the parchments of Divination notes, there was a knock at the door to the boys' dormitory. Leaving the work, he opened the door to find Ginny standing there, holding the Liefgema in her hand and a smile on her face. 'Thank you, not only for saving Ron but also for this.'  
  
'I can't imagine what you mean,' Harry replied, smiling back and then going to get his Divination work.  
  
'I knew he'd forgotten,' Ginny replied. 'With the amount of time he spends around Hermione now, I'm not surprised.'  
  
Harry was surprised to hear something like jealousy in her voice as she said this, and turned back with a frown on his face. 'You'll always be his little sister Ginny, he won't forget you - none of us will ever forget you.'  
  
'I'm not everyone's little sister,' Ginny replied, a slight look of annoyance on her face.  
  
'I know,' Harry replied. 'But that doesn't stop us caring for you.' Lifting his work once more, he went to the door and gave her a reassuring hug before heading back to the common room. Walking down the stairs he didn't hear what she whispered after him.  
  
'I don't want to be everyone's little sister.'  
  
* * *  
  
The next day, Harry found himself, Ron and Hermione, helping to round up the batch of Nifflers that Hagrid had brought into the Great Hall. After they'd sorted through the mound of earth for leprechaun gold, they had moved onto the rest of the hall's contents. Currently the trio were chasing a Niffler with Dumbledore's goblet clasped between its teeth.  
  
Jumping after it, Harry tripped over Ron's robes and sent his friend flying over the table to land with a thump on the other side. 'Well,' Hermione muttered, watching the Niffler sprint away. 'You can't say it's not a fun Christmas lesson.'  
  
'Yeah,' Ron muttered. 'Falling flat on my face is always a welcome treat.'  
  
'Awww,' Hermione replied. 'Want me to kiss it better?'  
  
'Go on then,' Ron replied, smiling at her cheekily, a smile that quickly disappeared when she leant over the table and planted a kiss on his forehead, then it was her turn to smile.  
  
Leaving Ron to do an admirable impression of a fish, Hermione started off after the Niffler again. 'You two getting along well then?' Harry asked, trying not to burst into a large grin.  
  
'Hmmm?' Ron mumbled, by way of a reply, his eyes following Hermione across the hall.  
  
Any further conversation was cut short as Hagrid walked over to them, a large smile on his face. 'Yeh look like yeh've run into a dragon,' he remarked to Ron, taking in his red face as well as the dirt smeared over it from the floor.  
  
'The lesser known Grangeris Hermionis,' Harry whispered to Ron, who flushed even more.  
  
'Got any plans for Christmas then?' Hagrid asked, as he surveyed the mass of students trying to chase down the last Niffler.  
  
'Staying as usual,' Harry replied.  
  
'Staying,' Ron echoed. 'Mum and Dad have gone to see Bill in Egypt, Charlie's out chasing a family of dragons and Percy's gone to stay with Penelope's family this year.'  
  
'Suppose that means I'll be chasing Fred and George away from the Forest for half the holiday,' Hagrid said, now watching the Niffler climb up a drape as Seamus attempted to pull it down. 'I better get over there before one of yeh friends hurts the Niffler,' he continued, as Seamus fell from the drape with a loud thump.  
  
'Typical Hagrid,' Ron remarked with a smile, but then his eyes flickered as someone walked past the door.  
  
'What is it?' Harry asked, seeing the flicker.  
  
'I dunno,' Ron replied. 'I swear that was Fudge.'  
  
Harry felt his stomach tighten involuntarily; his last memory of Fudge was not a good one. 'Can you cover for me?' he muttered quickly to Ron. 'Tell Hagrid I went after a Niffler or something.'  
  
'Sure, where are you going?' Ron asked, looking for an answer in Harry's face.  
  
'Wherever he's going,' Harry replied, nodding in the direction that Fudge had gone.  
  
Sneaking around the crowd of Gryffindors who were watching Hagrid lift the Niffler down from the top of one of the statues, Harry snuck into the corridor. Sure enough he caught sight of Fudge walking up the stairs in the Entrance Hall. Realising where he was going, Harry went down another corridor and started climbing the stairs at the end, emerging onto the corridor where Dumbledore's office was.  
  
Staying in the shadows he saw Fudge appear a few moments later, then after giving the password to the gargoyle, he walked up the stairwell to Dumbledore's office. Moving quickly, Harry crept into the passage before the gargoyle could move back, surprised that it didn't object to his sneaking into the entrance.  
  
Listening carefully, Harry guessed that Fudge was already in the office and so crept up to the door, which was indeed shut. Putting an ear to it, Harry began to listen to the conversation inside. 


	15. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen: Fudge  
  
Breathing quietly, Harry listened to the raised voices within.  
  
'Your allegations were completely out of place Albus, completely!' Harry recognised the harassed and pompous sounding voice of the Minister of Magic.  
  
'They weren't allegations Cornelius,' Dumbledore replied quietly. 'Just the simple truth - when can you learn to accept this?'  
  
'Accept what - that You-Know-Who has returned? It's preposterous, Albus. There's been no sign - and how do you know you can trust what Potter says anyway?'  
  
'I trust Harry more than I trust some adults,' Dumbledore replied. 'And so far he has not let me down.'  
  
'The boy is a Parselmouth, if that's not a reason to doubt him I don't know what is.' Feeling a surge of anger, Harry listened to Fudge pacing back and forth. 'There have been no signs, absolutely nothing, that would suggest he has returned, not even an increase in Death Eater sightings.'  
  
'And you consider this normal?' Dumbledore asked, 'A boy was murdered last year, Cornelius, and even if it was not Voldemort, that in the least is a poignant symbol of increased Death Eater activity.'  
  
'Or it was a symbol of an imbalanced mind seeking a way to settle a score. Do you know how many people believe that Potter was the one who murdered Diggory?'  
  
'I know that Amos Diggory and his wife believe Harry would have died for their son,' Dumbledore replied, and in his voice was an iron tone that sent an involuntary shudder through Harry. 'Now, was there a point to you coming here Cornelius, or is it just to accuse an innocent boy once more?'  
  
'The point of me being here is you,' Fudge snapped, 'and what you're doing to the Ministry. I know all about the investigating with unofficial help - and it must stop. You are disrupting what some of us fought so hard to preserve, what we managed to reconstruct from the discord that You-Know-Who sowed amongst us. We've got a government again, Albus, a government that works.'  
  
'A government that shelters murderers.'  
  
Harry flinched, it hadn't been Dumbledore who replied, in fact Harry had missed his reply entirely. The source of the voice who whispered in his ear resolved itself into Kilmorie, a quizzical gaze boring into Harry. His orange eyes seemed to glow in the darkness of the passage as he tried to figure out what was going on inside the young wizard. 'You should go now, I think you've heard enough to know what's going on.'  
  
For the briefest of seconds Harry considered arguing, but instead nodded to Kilmorie and walked past him down the stairs. As he brushed past, Harry felt a length of metal hidden beneath Kilmorie's robe and froze momentarily.  
  
Hoping the teacher hadn't noticed, Harry continued downstairs, stumbled out into the corridor and found himself sitting against the stone wall, breathing heavily. Images flashed in his eyes, the cloaked figure drawing the long blade and saluting him before delivering a cold threat. Pulling himself up on unsteady legs, Harry walked down the corridor, leaning against the wall for support as he went.  
  
Arriving back at the Great Hall, he saw it was almost empty, apart from Ron and Hermione helping Hagrid to put the Nifflers back in their cages. Walking in he smiled back as Hagrid beamed at him, gesturing to the Niffler he was putting back in its cage. 'We caught it for yeh, whereabouts did yeh lose it?'  
  
'Up by the stairs,' Harry replied, using the first place that sprang to mind.  
  
'Prob'ly hid under the carpet,' Hagrid said, nodding, 'They're good at that.' Harry smiled in agreement, then helped Ron and Hermione pack up the rest, making eye contact with each of them and gesturing that they should talk.  
  
After they finished and said quick goodbyes to Hagrid, Harry led them up to the tower where they went to the boys' dormitory. Locking the door, Harry turned and told them what happened, detail for detail, and then voiced the part that scared him.  
  
'You mean.you mean that Kilmorie and the Cambirer.they're working together?' Ron said, his eyes widening in shock.  
  
'No - they are the same person, or demon,' Hermione said. 'That's what he means, isn't it Harry?' He nodded, then looked back at her and waited expectantly. 'Of course I think you're wrong, haven't you got used to that by now?' Hermione replied after a few seconds of him staring at her.  
  
'We have,' Ron replied, smiling at her, 'Why do you think he didn't say anything?'  
  
'You shut up,' Hermione replied softly, 'but I still say Harry's wrong. This time Dumbledore tested Kilmorie himself, and with your map, and with McGonagall's help. He's not the Cambirer - they would know.'  
  
'How would they know?' Harry interrupted. 'Dumbledore knew Moody for most of his life but that didn't help him spot Crouch posing as him. They might not even know Kilmorie that well and you remember what Hagrid told me and Ginny - Kilmorie's betrayed their trust before.'  
  
'We can't be sure what that means,' Ron argued back. 'Hermione's right, you can't know Kilmorie is a threat.'  
  
'Fine, side with your girlfriend,' Harry snapped, ignoring the hurt looks on their faces. 'See what happens when the demon starts going after you.' And before either of them could reply he left the dormitory, slamming the door violently.  
  
Belatedly, Ron ran after him, opening the door as it vibrated on its hinges, but Harry was already down the stairs. Jogging down to the common room, he still couldn't see Harry. 'Damn it,' he swore, not caring that Hermione heard as she came down the stairs. 'I can't believe that just happened.'  
  
'I know,' she replied softly, and he saw there were tears in her eyes. 'I'm sorry.'  
  
'What? Why?' Ron asked, worry on his face as he brushed a tear away.  
  
'I made you choose, between Harry and me,' she said, her voice shaking. 'Between your best friend and-' but she got no further as Ron pulled her shaking shoulders into an embrace as she relaxed slowly.  
  
After a minute he let her go gently, 'You didn't make me choose,' Ron whispered, tracing the smile that appeared on her lips.  
  
* * *  
  
They didn't see Harry for the rest of that day, and Ron was sure he didn't come back to the dormitory that night. The first day of the Christmas holiday came and Ron awoke to see that Harry's bed was still empty, as was everyone else's. Most of their friends had no reason to stay, Ron recalled, and a few were still scared to be apart from their families after the previous year.  
  
Sighing, Ron got up and dressed, then walked down to the common room, to his surprise it was nearly deserted. Ginny looked up and smiled at her brother as he flopped sleepily in the chair beside her, basking in the warmth of the fire.  
  
'Where's Harry?' she asked, glancing back at the stairs. 'I would have thought you'd be up together.'  
  
'I don't know,' Ron replied, exhaling heavily. 'We had a bit of an argument yesterday. He got upset at me and Hermione.'  
  
'I thought you three never argued,' Ginny commented, her eyes widening slightly.  
  
'So did I,' Ron said. 'It's my fault though - I sided with Hermione, but she was right,' he added the last part defensively.  
  
'Harry probably thought he was right as well,' she replied quietly.  
  
* * *  
  
They found Harry that afternoon, sitting by himself in the Three Broomsticks, his photo album open and a faraway gaze on his face. Ron made to go and talk to him but Hermione put a hand on him and shook her head. A second later someone returned to the seat opposite Harry. He smiled and accepted the Butterbeer that Colin offered him, not even noticing the entrance of Ron and Hermione with Ginny.  
  
Sitting down at another table, Ron and Hermione sat so that they were hidden by other people, but Ginny watched Harry through a gap in the crowded pub. He and Colin were conversing deeply, but it seemed to be a friendly discussion and she could see Harry wasn't upset. A few minutes later, Colin left and Harry turned to the album and flicked idly through the pages.  
  
Before Ron or Hermione could stop her, Ginny stood up and walked up to Harry's table, pulling out a chair and sitting down beside him. He looked up, but stopped closing the album and instead smiled, leaving it open. Looking at the page, Ginny saw a picture of Harry, Ron and Hermione, the three of them in a group laughing and smiling.  
  
'What are you doing?' she asked, absent-mindedly staring at the other photos.  
  
'Trying to remember the good times,' Harry replied, 'so that I don't forget them again.'  
  
'I don't remember you three ever posing for Colin,' Ginny remarked, looking at another picture that he must have taken.  
  
'We've become immune to flashes,' Harry replied, a smile tugging at his lips. 'I barely notice him taking a photo anymore.' Letting out a sigh he rubbed his eyes and leant back in his chair, before looking up at Ginny as she stood beside him.  
  
'It was a stupid argument, wasn't it?' he asked, closing his eyes again as he let the guilt he'd been feeling voice itself.  
  
'Probably,' Ginny replied, knowing that was what Harry wanted to hear. 'But it happens, and you can do something about it.'  
  
'Like what?' he asked, opening his eyes to stare into hers.  
  
'Keep filling the pages,' she replied, pointing to the next empty space beneath a photo of Harry and his friends. 


	16. Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen: Christmas  
  
'Wake up you lazy.person,' Harry heard, and then grinned as he opened his eyes.  
  
'Morning to you too,' he said to Ginny, knowing that Ron or Hermione would have called him something else entirely. 'The others downstairs already?'  
  
'Yeah, we've moved all the presents down there, we're just waiting for you!'  
  
'What, everyone?'  
  
'Not everyone, we're the only people here remember - unless McGonagall joins us. Even Fred and George woke up for once.'  
  
'Give me a second,' he said, then pulled on his robe and ran downstairs with Ginny to where everyone else was clustered in the common room, all still wearing their pyjamas beneath robes.  
  
'About time,' Fred remarked indignantly. 'I mean, we know you're Harry Potter, but that doesn't mean you can delay Christmas!' Harry laughed, and on an unseen agreement everyone began tearing into the parcels that lay about the room.  
  
True to form, everyone had a Weasley jumper, Ron scowled at his usual maroon fiasco, but it was replaced by an approving grin when Hermione swapped it for hers. Harry's was a dark blue with a silver broomstick on the front, while the twins each had crossed bats with a Bludger on their tops. Ginny's was a similar red to her hair with a medieval looking 'G' pattern on the front in blue.  
  
Moving on, Harry opened a letter with familiar handwriting on it. It was from Sirius.  
  
Hi Harry,  
  
I left this with Dumbledore to deliver to you as I won't be back for another couple of weeks. However, I am going to be in the fireplace at 11:00 on Christmas morning, Ron and Hermione are going to clear out the room somehow. I'm going to give you your present after Christmas, so you'll have to wait a while, other than that I'll see you soon.  
  
Sirius  
  
Checking his watch, Harry saw it was nearly eleven and that Ginny was right, he had been lazy. That was when Ron and Hermione suggested everyone should take their stuff back up to their rooms, and also when Harry saw the gifts that most of them had received from Sirius.  
  
Each of them had been given a small charm, even the twins and Ginny who had never met Sirius, but by now knew enough about him from Ron, Bill and their parents. Saying he would be up in a minute, Harry caught Ron's broad wink as everyone else disappeared upstairs. A few seconds later, as Harry glanced at his watch, the flames flickered in the fireplace and Sirius's head appeared.  
  
'Merry Christmas, Harry,' he said, a wide grin on his face.  
  
'And you,' Harry returned, aware he must also be grinning comically at Sirius. 'Where are you? Or can't I ask?'  
  
'Well you have asked,' Sirius replied, 'but it's okay - I'm down in London, staying with friends until I can get back to Hogwarts safely.'  
  
'The thing for Dumbledore went okay then?' Harry stated rather than asked, but was relieved when Sirius nodded confidently in reply. 'Are you doing anything for Christmas or not where you are?'  
  
'There's going to be a dinner, but not much else as I can't go out in public still. I suppose you've got a mini-feast with everyone.'  
  
'Yeah,' Harry replied. 'And thanks for sending them the others presents by the way.'  
  
'What?' Sirius said sharply. 'Harry, I haven't sent anything to anyone.'  
  
'Then who.?'  
  
'Go and stop them!' Sirius shouted, abruptly vanishing in the flames as he and Harry moved away at the same time.  
  
Running quickly, Harry sprinted up the stairs to his room and flung open the door in time to hear Ron yell in pain. His heart hammering he ran to Ron's bed where blood had dripped onto the sheet, ashen-faced, Ron was staring at his bloodied hand. The Chudley Cannons motif lay on the bed, and was now jagged, with blades sticking out of it. 'The others,' Harry gasped, then turned and ran with Ron on his heels.  
  
Running back down the stairs, they both sprinted up the steps leading to the girls' dormitories. As Ron slammed open the door to Hermione's room, Harry keep on running up to the floor where Ginny's dormitory was. Flinging open the door, he saw her lifting the charm to her face so she could examine it more closely.  
  
Without thinking he took out his wand and cast the Banishing Charm, continuing his run towards Ginny. She let out a short scream as the charm flew away from her, but it was cut off when Harry grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to the floor under the cover of her bed. A second later there was a loud bang, and Harry heard afterwards the sound of several objects hissing through the air.  
  
'Stay down,' he whispered to Ginny, giving her shaking shoulders a squeeze of reassurance. He sat up slowly, peeking over the top of the bed with his wand ready, but there was no need. The charm had exploded into thousands of fragments of metal, each one had torn through an area of the room and embedded itself in the wall.  
  
The door flew open and Harry spun to face Fred and George, both of whom had burst in with their wands ready as well. 'If that was Sirius's idea of a joke,' George began until Fred elbowed him in the stomach.  
  
'Where's Ginny?' Fred asked, paling slightly as he saw the tattered damage to her room.  
  
'I'm here,' she replied, sitting up from behind the bed, 'Harry got to me before it exploded - what about you two?'  
  
'They're in the walls,' George replied, rubbing his stomach where his brother had elbowed him. 'Of course, they were there before the blades came out of them.'  
  
'Everyone okay?' Ron asked, running into Fred and George in the doorway. He was followed by Hermione who also appeared to be unhurt by her charm. 'What the hell is going on?' he demanded of Harry when it appeared everyone was okay.  
  
'Sirius didn't send the charms,' Harry explained, telling them about the interrupted conversation he'd had with his godfather, only to be interrupted himself. For the third time in a minute the door swung open, this time more steadily as Dumbledore stepped through, taking in Ron's hastily bandaged hand as he did so.  
  
'I see you managed to get to everyone in time,' he commented to Harry, his glittering eyes passing over everyone in turn. 'I am sorry this has happened, I should have foreseen something like this in Voldemort's plans,' shaking his head Harry once again saw the lines of age in the headmaster's face. 'Nonetheless,' Dumbledore continued, a smile taking over his weariness, 'I expect you all to enjoy the rest of Christmas without exception. I will have this cleaned up while we eat the dinner, you can all return to the tower in the evening.'  
  
With this, he gestured for them to leave. Before Harry could say another word he found himself among the group as they walked down to the Great Hall. All the other teachers waited at the table, smiles on their faces as they talked, and the other students who had remained behind sat at a table that had been put alongside the head table. As they sat down, Harry saw Madam Pomfrey pass Ron a proper bandage across the table, making sure none of the other students saw the quick action.  
  
A few minutes after they sat down, Dumbledore walked into the hall with a large smile on his face. 'I see I'm just in time,' he commented. 'Let's eat.' And with a wave of his hand the food from the kitchens was summoned to the plates. Once again there was more food then Harry could remember, and the same explosive wizard crackers that sent white mice scurrying around the table.  
  
After a couple of hours enjoying the food and company, Harry and the others had forgotten the earlier scare and were enjoying themselves as Dumbledore had wished. When they left, they all went outside for another snowball fight, which was made even more perilous than usual by Hermione's use of the Levitation Charm to send a squadron of snowballs after Ron. Eventually, they tracked him down when he dove behind a wall of snow, only to find them hovering on the other side waiting for him.  
  
That evening they returned to the tower looking like snow creatures where it remained stuck to their clothes. Changing into dry clothes, they all met up again in the common room where they talked into the night, until only Harry, Ginny and Ron were awake. Staring into the fire, Harry felt his own eyelids begin to fall slowly when Ginny's giggle made them open. Off to his right he saw that Ron had fallen asleep first, his head resting against Hermione's where she leant on his shoulder.  
  
'They belong together,' Ginny said softly, her eyes gentle in the firelight, 'don't they?'  
  
'Yeah, when do you think they'll really notice it themselves?' Harry replied, grinning at her.  
  
'I think they each know, but they don't know if the other knows.'  
  
'How nicely complicated,' Harry laughed. 'I just wonder how long it will take one of them to do something about it.' They sat in silence a for a few minutes, just watching their friends sleep as the fire bathed them in all in a soft orange glow.  
  
'Before I forget,' Ginny said. 'This is for you.' In her hand she held a small bag with a chain of dancing snowmen on it.  
  
'You didn't have to Ginny,' he said, catching the bag as she threw it to him.  
  
'Yes I did - or had you forgotten my birthday?' with a smile, she watched him open the bag, disrupting the conga line of snowmen. Inside was a familiar gem, and Harry recognised the outline of a Liefgema. Taking it out he saw it was on a silver chain, with a blue stone set into the tear. Looking into the gem Harry saw whirls of azure and white mixing together as he ran his fingers over the smooth stone.  
  
He opened his mouth to say thanks but, in the warmth and comfort, Ginny had joined the rest of the sleepers. Watching the firelight play over her face, Harry put the Liefgema around his neck, letting the gem rest on his skin. Like his, he felt a sensation of heat spreading out from the stone as he slowly fell asleep. 


	17. Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen: Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw  
  
The rest of the holiday passed the same way, with snowball fighting even managing to take priority over work for Hermione, although she and Ron did go back to the library near the end of the holiday. It seemed that everyone had had a good Christmas, even though Neville had managed to set his Uncle Algernon's moustache on fire with only a wizard cracker. Dumbledore had been as good as his word, and so when the other Gryffindors returned to their rooms, no one noticed any evidence of the destructive charms.  
  
With the return of the rest of the Quidditch team, they began discussing the upcoming game against Ravenclaw, and once again Harry found himself tiring emotionally. He hadn't realised the effects that his last year would continually have on him would be this bad. He found it difficult to concentrate through team meetings, and also through his classes as well as he thought ahead to the match.  
  
The night before he found he couldn't sleep and once more went down to the common room to lounge in a chair. Surprisingly, it was deserted. An hour before he'd been surrounded by the rest of Gryffindor tower as they all gathered around the team. Sinking down into an armchair, he pulled out the Liefgema Ginny had given him and stared at the gem as colours swirled within the tear.  
  
With a start he flinched as another tear swung into view, he looked up to see Ginny dangling the red gem in front of his face. 'Can you see what lies within?' she whispered, and Harry saw orange and reds whirling with yellow in the stone.  
  
In a blink of his eyes the gem was gone, and so was Ginny. Sitting up in the chair, Harry looked around the room - there was no sign of her. Sitting back, he stared at the blue gem again and the patterns inside it, azure streaks calmly mixing with dashes of white.  
  
'What lies within.' he whispered, then fell into a deep sleep.  
  
* * *  
  
'Wake up you lazy git!' Ron shouted indignantly, waving a plate of bacon under Harry's nose. 'There isn't a reserve Seeker you know.' Muttering vaguely, Harry accepted the plate and tucked into the bacon with a vengeance. 'You okay? You look really tired or something.'  
  
'Memories,' Harry replied, turning a piece of bacon thoughtfully on his fork. 'Happened last time, can't wait to see how I react to the match against Slytherin,' he added wryly.  
  
'By kicking them back down the hole they came from,' Ron replied. 'Stupid gits.'  
  
Angelina poked her head through the portrait hole before Harry could reply. 'Oi! Seeker! We've got a game you know.' With a weary grin to Ron, Harry pulled himself up and trotted after her, arriving in the team's room as people began to filter down from the school.  
  
Changing into his robes, Harry felt his stomach twitch as it had before, but grabbed his broomstick and marched out with the rest of the team, determined not to let it show. Lining up as the captains met, Harry saw Cho, in the Seeker's position on the other side, she chose that moment to catch his eye as well. In that moment he could see that she was experiencing the same discomfort as him, could imagine the awkward smile on his face mirroring hers.  
  
Then the whistle blew and they shot off the ground, spiralling upwards until they were above the scrum of Chasers going after the Quaffle. Looking backwards, Harry saw Cho was using her normal tactic of tailing him, waiting to swoop forwards and block him if he made to go after the Snitch. A small grin tugging at his face, Harry pulled a dive with the Firebolt, soaring out in front of her before she could react. Passing through the crowd of players, he pulled up again to hover on the opposite side of the field to her.  
  
Beneath him he saw Angelina, Katie and Alicia weaving back and forth, throwing the Quaffle in a flurry of moves that the Ravenclaw Keeper was trying to follow. He failed miserably and with a resounding cheer the Quaffle shot through one of the hoops, and Lee Jordan yelled in delight as Gryffindor went up by ten points.  
  
The Ravenclaw Chasers led a quick counterattack, they were going so fast that disaster struck when Fred sent a Bludger at their leader but incorrectly guessed where they were going. A few seconds after Dean caught the Quaffle, he was knocked flying from his broom when the Bludger struck him in the head. Frozen, Harry and the other players could only watch as he fell to the ground, only to stop as if on an invisible cushion a few feet from the floor. Looking around, Harry saw Madam Hooch directing her wand at that spot.  
  
Breathing a sigh of relief, Harry applauded with the other Gryffindors as she levitated him off the pitch, then called Angelina over for a word. A few minutes later, his pale face standing out against his red hair, Ron swooped into the air, heading for the Gryffindor goalposts. The cheer he received was tumultuous from the Gryffindor end, with some scattered applause elsewhere in the stands, and the usual boos from the Slytherin crowd.  
  
Grinning, Harry looped by the goalposts as he searched for the Snitch. 'I hope you haven't upset Fred or George recently,' he called, a large grin on his face.  
  
'I'm not worried,' Ron shouted back as Harry flew onwards. 'Mum would kill them if that happened to me!'  
  
Laughing, Harry flew onwards, twirling around a Ravenclaw Beater who was trying to direct a Bludger at Angelina but found himself ducking instead as Harry's movement disguised its approach. Climbing back up to the top of the stadium, Harry saw Cho on a parallel path again, before she abruptly dived towards a patch of gold in the air.  
  
Cursing himself silently, Harry shot after her like an arrow from a bow, lying flat against the broom to streamline himself. By the time he reached her he was going twice as fast, and aware that he was also approaching the stadium grandstand very quickly. Seeing the Snitch, he pulled up on his Firebolt so that he went from lying horizontally to an upright. As the broomstick groaned with the sudden change of direction, Harry grabbed the Snitch from the air, then shot upwards as the broom finally reoriented itself.  
  
Slowing down, he shook his head to clear his vision, only to be mugged by Fred and George, then Ron and the girls. Through the crowd of red and gold robes, he picked out Cho's face, she wore the same sad smile as before, but nodded once to him before descending with her team. As Harry was congratulated he once more felt part of himself heal emotionally, and so surrounded by his team he began to celebrate as well.  
  
* * *  
  
The party was one of the best that Harry could remember, everyone seemed to be cheering whenever someone walked through the portrait hole. First of all there had been one massive shout when the team had returned, then more as Fred and George continually returned with more and more food, and another loud cheer when Dean showed up, his head swathed in a large bandage. 'No Quidditch for the rest of the year,' he told Harry, but he was smiling nonetheless, he'd managed to stop all the Ravenclaw shots before he'd been knocked out.  
  
The celebrations continued long into the night, despite the fact that Professor McGonagall came in to stop it twice. Even Hermione didn't seem to mind that they were all breaking most of the school rules, but then again she was breaking a few herself. It was only a few minutes beyond midnight that most of the first years left though, and they were soon followed by the rest of the younger Gryffindor students.  
  
The rest of the students finally broke up into their respective years and headed to bed an hour later, with Seamus and Neville supporting Dean, who was still suffering some effects of the Bludger. Most of the time during the party he'd been given more and more food by Fred by way of an apology, so it was no wonder he was still feeling ill.  
  
That night Harry slept contentedly, not even worrying about the Slytherin match as he though he would, not caring about having to face Malfoy again. His dreams were a blur of mixed images, but none of the Cambirer disturbed him. Instead he saw himself flying after the Snitch, which resolved itself into the red Liefgema again.  
  
Can you see what lies within? 


	18. Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen: Detention and Deception  
  
One of the other reasons that Harry wasn't worrying about the match with Slytherin was because he had something else to worry about - exams were drawing near again. Studying for his O.W.L.s was even nastier then for his normal exams, but Harry found help once more in both Ron and Hermione, whose new ability to work together passed onto him. Despite missing the previous year's exams, he had also studied more in some subjects as well to aid him in the Triwizard Tournament.  
  
This meant he could study on those areas he was unsure of, one of which was always potions. No matter how many times Hermione explained a recipe or Ron mixed it with him, Harry was having a terrible time attempting anything. In his classes it seemed Snape's delight to torture him about this, resulting in one lesson where his cauldron melted instead of Neville's. The Potions teacher had then taken full advantage of Harry's misery to give him a detention as well, instead of letting him study for his other subjects.  
  
'Miserable git,' Ron snarled repeatedly as he and Harry tried to study for Divination. Not only would they have to mix Seeing Potions for Trelawney this year, they also had to foretell an event in cards, something else Ron was not looking forward to. 'I can't decide which is going to be worse, the Potions or Divination exam.'  
  
'For now let's just assume my detention will be the worst thing to happen this term,' Harry said, 'Then there's one less thing to predict for the exam.' He left later on, saying goodbye to Ron and Hermione as he went, before making his way down to the dungeon and Snape's classroom.  
  
'Get cleaning,' was all Snape said to him as Harry entered, gesturing at the row of desks covered in the remains of various potions. From the mix Harry guessed it had been a first year class, actually amazed that he could now remember the ingredients to the Forgetfulness Potion. He was so busy scrubbing at one stain (which he thought resembled a slug) that he didn't notice the other person joining him in the detention until they tried to scrub the same desk.  
  
'That's my slug,' Ginny remarked, her eyebrows narrowing as she examined the stain they were both trying to clean.  
  
'What were you doing with them?' Harry asked, moving onto a different desk, 'I can't help but notice they've exploded everywhere.'  
  
Ginny giggled and earned a glare from Snape, but he continued writing at his desk and let them keep on talking. 'We kind of had a slug fight with the Slytherins in our group,' she said, her face beaming in despite the darkness of the dungeon, 'I was deemed the ringleader when one of mine landed on his desk.'  
  
Harry bit back a laugh and also tried to avoid Snape's glare as his concentration was broken once more by them. 'One more laugh, Potter, and I'll get you to clean the desks every day for the rest of this year.' His voice was icy and calm, and for once Harry believed he would carry out his threat so they continued cleaning in silence. 'Go,' Snape said, not even looking up from his work when they finished, 'and don't ever consider doing something like that again.'  
  
They managed to get up to the Entrance Hall before they burst out laughing, collapsing onto each other to stand up. Drawing himself up, Harry pulled a sour face before letting out a harsh cackle, 'Never do that again!' he managed before laughing out loud again. By now Ginny was laughing so hard that she sank to the floor, clutching her stomach as Harry tried to do the impression again but failed miserably, dissolving into laughs.  
  
Wiping tears from his eyes, Harry managed to control his laughs and put a hand out to help Ginny up, but with a small tug she pulled him down in a flurry of robes to sit beside her, prompting another burst of laughter. Watching Ginny as she gained control of her laughs until they were just giggles, Harry felt the familiar warmth in his heart that came from being with her. Then he realised that it was not just emotional warmth, but something else as well.  
  
Reaching into his robes, he pulled out the Liefgema that she had given him. The colours inside swirled and jumped, and warmth was flowing from the object, another giggle from Ginny sent a wave of heat into his hand as he held the gem. Seeing Harry do this, Ginny suddenly noticed the same warmth on her skin, and pulled out Harry's Liefgema, where once more the colours blazed and danced inside.  
  
Catching his eye, Ginny saw the same wonder and excitement that she felt, as the gems danced in unison she felt as if Harry's own heart was beating with hers. Staring back into her soft brown eyes, Harry saw the same exhilaration, and the same elusive emotion that had been around her since the summer.  
  
Abruptly their senses disconnected as a harsh footstep broke the bond between Harry and Ginny, and as Ginny flinched Harry felt a flash of ice through her Liefgema. Standing quickly he put a finger to his lips and ushered her into the corner, keeping an arm around her protectively. Hiding behind a statue, they looked out in time to see Snape walk out from the corridor they'd come from. A few seconds later Harry heard another person walk down the stairs, and pulled Ginny back into the shadows with him.  
  
'Well?' Snape hissed, looking around anxiously, and Harry's breath caught in his mouth as Kilmorie stepped into the light of the hall.  
  
'It will be soon, I know that much.' He replied, not at all anxious and this seemed to pass onto Snape who calmed visibly.  
  
'You're sure of that, because we need results soon - I think he'll start suspecting something otherwise.'  
  
'So what? That won't affect me at all, I can handle this.' Kilmorie trailed off though, turning to look away from Snape.  
  
'What?' Snape pressed, 'What is it?'  
  
Kilmorie sighed before turning back, 'I just don't know if I'm ready to.'  
  
Snape spat viciously before his eyes locked on Kilmorie, 'You've killed before, and don't give me that 'redeemed' act.'  
  
'This is different,' Kilmorie replied, breaking Snape's gaze, 'and you know it. What I've done before is nothing compared to this. Nothing.' He sighed once more before continuing, 'I'm not sure if I want to be responsible for the murder of two children.'  
  
'Potter and Weasley are no children,' Snape replied angrily, 'don't forget that. Just do what you were hired to do. No mistakes.' With a whirl of his cape, Snape stalked back down the corridor, leaving Kilmorie alone by the stairs.  
  
Drawing aside his cloak the Professor pulled out a long dagger, stared into the light from the torches as it glanced off the blade. 'No mistakes.' he whispered, then sheathed the dagger and pulled his cloak about him. Orange eyes flashing in the darkness, he walked up the stairs with light footsteps, leaving the hall in silence once more.  
  
After a few minutes Harry emerged from the shadows of the statue, walking slowly until he sat on the bottom steps of the staircase. Ginny followed, her face pale and nervous, her eyes darting around anxiously as if expecting something to happen. 'Harry?' she whispered, tugging at his cloak as he sat, staring at the ground, 'Harry let's go.please Harry.'  
  
In the ice cold gem she held, Ginny felt a flash of warmth and found Harry staring back at her. Before she could say a word he took her hand and led her back upstairs. His movements were sure, but from the gem Ginny could still only feel ice, and in her heart only a feeling of dread.  
  
* * *  
  
After getting back to the common room Harry had let go of Ginny's hand and walked straight upstairs, even ignoring Ron and Hermione who had waited in chairs for the two of them. As he climbed the stairs, he was vaguely aware of Ginny breaking into tears as a puzzled Hermione walked over to her. Going up the dormitory he sat down on his bed and drew the curtains shut, lying back just as he heard Ron running through the door.  
  
Harry turned over, but was surprised when Ron drew back the curtains and grabbed him roughly by the shoulders, lifting him up and pushing him against the headboard with surprising force. 'Give me a reason why I shouldn't,' he snarled, balling a fist. Looking into Ron's eyes, Harry saw a fierce hate that he didn't recognise, but also the anger that had spurred Ron into going after him.  
  
Trying to answer, Harry found he could not speak, his throat choked him and his lips wouldn't form the words. Putting a hand up, Harry tried to pull Ron's arm away from his collar, but instead found himself being dragged out of his bed and slammed into the cabinet beside his bed. Pulling back his fist, Ron prepared to launch himself at Harry, but was pulled backwards by Dean and Seamus who had leapt out of their beds after hearing the crash of Harry impacting on the cabinet.  
  
'What the hell are you doing?' Seamus cried, pushing Ron so that he sat on Harry's bed, while Harry, still trying to sound out words collapsed onto the floor.  
  
'He did something to Ginny,' Ron snapped, 'and I want to know what.'  
  
To Harry's shock, Seamus backed away, as did Dean, but Ron didn't go for him again. 'Harry, what did you do?' Seamus asked, his face now slightly paler.  
  
Leaning against the cabinet, Harry tried to form words, his hand held at his throat but despite moving his mouth he could not say a thing. Kneeling down Seamus pulled Harry's hand back, but there was no mark on him. 'Ron, did you hit him?'  
  
'No, but I bloody will in a minute.' He retorted, rising from the bed.  
  
'Back off Ron,' Dean muttered angrily, shoving him back down quickly.  
  
'Something's wrong,' Neville commented quietly as he joined them, 'look at his eyes.'  
  
The door to the dormitory flew open again and Professor McGonagall walked through with Hermione and Ginny, tearstains visible on her face. Walking immediately over she took in the panicked Harry and red-faced Ron, eventually turning to the latter. 'Explain.'  
  
'I didn't touch him,' Ron replied, still angry, but keeping it controlled.  
  
'He didn't Professor,' Neville added when she looked to dismiss Ron's claim, 'Seamus and Dean pulled him back before he could hit Harry.'  
  
'He didn't do anything!' Ginny yelled suddenly at her brother, 'He was just protecting me! Why did you do that!' and then she ran out of the room, before McGonagall or Hermione could stop her. Ron could only look from his departing sister to Harry, he glanced at Hermione then back to Harry, then put his face into his hands.  
  
'You boys,' McGonagall said to the other three, 'help me get Potter down to the hospital wing, Hermione, stay with Ron.' Moving carefully Seamus and Dean lifted Harry who was now gasping as he tried to speak. Bustling out quickly McGonagall and Neville followed, leaving Hermione standing opposite Ron, who was now shaking as he sat there.  
  
Moving slowly, she sat beside him on the bed, then put an arm around him until the shaking slowly stopped. Looking up at her, she saw where tears had fallen down his face and gently wiped them away. 'I didn't.I didn't know.' he mumbled, then let her pull him into an embrace as fresh tears ran down his face once more. 


	19. Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen: The Fall of Silence  
  
The next morning Harry woke to find himself in the hospital wing, the previous night's events a blur of images.and pain. Rubbing his chest, he encountered Ginny's Liefgema and his hand recoiled sharply, before he grabbed the chain and pulled it out. The gem was giving off enormous heat, but it wasn't warmth, instead it was raging and uncontrolled.  
  
* * *  
  
'I don't care,' Ginny snapped at Fred. 'I don't care what he says, I hate him.'  
  
'Would you hate me too?' George asked. 'Ron thought Harry had hurt you Gin, he just did what any of us would have done - you're our little sister!'  
  
'We all love you,' Fred continued, 'and we'd do anything to protect you.'  
  
'Harry was protecting me!' Ginny whispered fiercely. 'Why can't you accept that?'  
  
'Because you'll always be our little sister!' George replied. 'No matter how old you are we'll always feel responsible for you that way. I know Harry's like a brother to Ron, but that doesn't mean the same thing.'  
  
'He's like a brother to all of us,' Fred added, 'but that doesn't mean he knows what a brother feels.'  
  
'He's more than a brother to me,' Ginny replied quietly, her eyes sparkling as more tears fell. Before Fred or George could respond, Ginny got up from the breakfast table and ran out of the hall, not even noticing the jeering Slytherins as she left. Rising angrily, George began to head for their table, but Fred's hand pulled him back down.  
  
Further down the table, Ron sat inconsolable, Hermione beside him. She kept trying to look him in the eye but he just ate automatically. Around them sat the rest of the fifth year Gryffindors, all of them watching him out of the side of their eyes, and all of them avoiding the space where Harry normally sat opposite Ron.  
  
* * *  
  
'Up I see,' Madam Pomfrey remarked as she walked into the ward from her office, but her voice was not the usual sharp tone she used. Walking over to Harry's bed she pressed a palm to his head but found no temperature. 'Try and say something,' she instructed softly, holding a finger to his throat but not pressing down.  
  
Harry gulped as he tried to speak, moving his mouth and shaping his throat he found that while he was shouting a word, no sound came out. 'Stop, Harry,' the nurse interrupted as he drew in a breath, 'that will only make it hurt.' Letting out a sigh she picked up a cup of liquid and gave it to him. He took it without explanation, so far Madam Pomfrey had never been wrong about a cure. 'Your vocal chords have been paralysed,' she explained as he sipped the liquid, as he looked up she answered the question in his mind.  
  
'I don't know why, but if you'd care to enlighten me.?' she held out a quill and parchment, but was unsurprised at the one word Harry wrote. 'He'll be here soon,' she replied softly, then left him to replace the medicine in a cupboard. When she returned he was sleeping once more.  
  
The scrap of parchment in his hand fell to the floor, the name scribbled on it read: Sirius.  
  
* * *  
  
'Where is he, Albus?' Sirius demanded as he practically fell through the door into the Headmaster's office.  
  
'The hospital wing, ' Dumbledore replied, and with a flick of his wand he shut the door as Sirius tried to run through it. 'A minute, if you could spare it please, Sirius?' His voice was calm and polite, and although Sirius wanted to go he nodded and sat at the chair by the headmaster's desk. 'I don't know what caused this to happen, but after Christmas I am guessing we believe the same culprit to be responsible?'  
  
'Who else?' Sirius replied, his voice steady but eyes flashing. 'I told you we couldn't trust him.'  
  
'Severus has my trust,' Dumbledore replied, his own eyes glinting back at Sirius, 'and I recall that you gave him your own last year.' Before Sirius could object Dumbledore raised a palm, 'I ask that you don't confront him, after all, his persuading Julian to return could be the only thing that protects Harry this year.'  
  
Sirius slumped back, pinching his eyes and letting out a deep breath before he looked back up at the Headmaster. 'You're right, as always,' he added with a wry grin. 'I'll stay out of Snape's way - but keep him away from me.'  
  
'I will,' Dumbledore replied, 'and now that you are going, may I suggest that it be Snuffles who visits Harry - until you are alone at least? None of the other students are aware of your innocence yet, after all.'  
  
'I'll be careful,' Sirius promised, aware that the sight of a convicted murderer running around the school would not improve Dumbledore's standing with the Ministry. With that he left the office, letting Dumbledore sit alone in the silence, broken only by the soft wheezes of the ex- headmasters. After a while, Dumbledore turned and removed the Pensieve from the cabinet, placing the dish in front of him and staring into its murky depths.  
  
Taking a few strands from his head, he let them fall into the liquid, and after a few seconds a figure formed out of the swirling mass. Tears running down her face, Ginny's trembling form began to speak to him again, telling him all that had happened.  
  
'Let her be wrong,' he whispered to himself when she was done, looking at the staff portrait he had had taken, in particular at the grim-faced Snape. 'Please, let her be wrong.'  
  
For the first time in years, Dumbledore felt the weight of defeat on his shoulders.  
  
* * *  
  
Harry awoke to a soft whining, and found a wet nose nuzzling his hand gently. A smile crept onto his face and he made to speak the name he had written, but once more his own voice had deserted him. 'I'll leave you now,' Madam Pomfrey said, not even blinking an eye as Sirius reverted to human form, but true to her word she locked the ward's door, and returned to her office.  
  
Watching her close the door, Harry turned back to Sirius who was now sitting on his bed. There was a worried expression on his godfather's face, but a warm smile there anyway. Shifting so that he sat on the bed, he was unprepared for Harry's hug, but held the boy close as he trembled in his arms. Holding him gently, Sirius let his mind wander, back to the last time he remembered holding Harry, with Lily and James watching carefully in the background.  
  
After a few minutes, or it could have been longer, Harry pulled away from his godfather, his fear temporarily washed away by the reassurance and warmth he felt there. 'So, what the hell happened to you?' and as he asked, Sirius produced a piece of paper and a quill, pulling a wry face as he did so. 'It's the only way I know of,' he replied seeing Harry's sour look, but grinning nonetheless.  
  
Taking the quill Harry scribbled quickly, then gave the sheet back to Sirius, a look of expectation on his face. Sirius took in the name, nodded once and then returned the paper to Harry who shot him a confused and frustrated look. 'I knew,' Sirius replied, and beneath the calm, Harry detected a firm strength. 'Don't worry, I'll take care of this.'  
  
He paused for a minute, then let a smile settle in his face. 'How's other things been going?' Harry titled his head in puzzlement, and Sirius held out a hand in reply. 'Can I see your birthday present?'  
  
Harry flushed in reply, but took out the Liefgema and handed it to Sirius. He didn't seem that surprised that it wasn't the same one. 'What happened?' he asked Harry, a large grin on his face, it grew even large when Harry scribbled; 'Long story' on the parchment. Sirius just nodded again, but Harry didn't mind, somehow he knew that Sirius had already worked out where his Liefgema had ended up.  
  
'Seeing as I wasn't here for Christmas,' Sirius continued, reaching down to lift a bag that he'd been holding in his mouth as he arrived. 'Sorry about the tooth marks,' he said with a lopsided expression, 'canines are a bit of a hindrance sometimes.' Making a wheezing chuckle of a sound Harry took the bag and opened it, revealing a horde of sweets, several of which were scuttling around looking for a way out of the bag. 'They'll stop moving once you catch them, and they're all made of jelly' he added, watching a beetle run over the top, 'well, the label said they were all made of jelly.'  
  
'I have to go now,' Sirius said abruptly, 'I needed to check on you though, but that,' and he waved at Harry's scribbled note, 'changes some things.' Harry could guess what, so nodded in reply, then hugged Sirius once more as his godfather returned the Liefgema. 'You'll be fine,' Sirius said fondly, rubbing Harry's already scruffy hair, 'spouting rubbish again in no time.'  
  
Harry grinned, and the smile stayed even after Sirius had gone.  
  
* * *  
  
Ginny had never felt more alone, lying on her bed as tears flowed freely down her face. She had been there since breakfast, sometime sleeping and sometimes just staring - not even her friends had tried to disturb her. Even as her dormitory door squeaked open she ignored the sound, not even moving when she felt the person sit down on her bed beside her.  
  
Face stitched with worry, Ron reached for his sister's shoulder, but stopped when he noticed her deep breathing. Resolving himself, he tried again to stir her shoulder to wake her, but stopped himself short. Silently, he stood and left the room while Ginny remained still, her eyes wide open and focused on the wall opposite the door.  
  
A few minutes later the door squeaked opened again, this time the footsteps were soft and sure, not nervous like Ron's had been. Again, Ginny ignored the weight of the person sitting on her bed, until a tear shaped gem swung down in front of her eyes.  
  
Sitting up, she turned to see Harry's face, smiling but apologetic, and with a small cry she collapsed into his arms. Once more, tears flowed down her face as they embraced, but this time, they were tears of joy.  
  
* * *  
  
Ron was staring at the ceiling of his bed, just lying awake as his thoughts returned to the day and the previous evening. Each time he flinched, Hermione let out a small moan of complaint, but then continued dozing softly beside him. He couldn't remember when she'd come into the room and climbed onto the bed beside him, but her embrace could not shake the pain that Ron felt in himself - or the pain that he'd caused in others.  
  
The door opened and he turned his head, then sat bolt upright as Harry and Ginny walked in, both smiling at him. With a gentle push from Harry, Ginny ran forwards and embraced her brother as he stood up to meet her, hugging her back fiercely. 'I'm sorry,' he mumbled, the words burning fiercely in his throat.  
  
'I am too,' Ginny whispered, 'you're my brother and I love you, no matter what I say.'  
  
'I know, Gin, I love you too.' After holding her for a few minutes, Ron let her go and pulled back, smiling at her as she beamed back at him. Walking over to Harry, he held out his hand. 'I'll never do that again,' he said, 'I should have trusted you.' And to Ron's embarrassment, Harry ignored his hand and embraced him warmly, provoking a small giggle from Ginny as Ron tried to push him off, then gave in and returned the friendly hug.  
  
'How about we go get something done then?' Ron asked, getting a nod from Harry, and a squeeze of his hand from Ginny. With a grin on his face Harry lifted the wriggling bag of jelly insects that Sirius had given him. 'I hope they're not what I think they are,' Ron replied.  
  
'I already ate the spiders,' Ginny said. 'There might be a couple hiding in the darkness though,' she added teasingly, then began giggling manically and dodged out the door as Ron made a playful grab for her.  
  
And so the three of them left the dormitory, mostly quiet apart from Ginny's giggling, and closing the door to leave Hermione sleeping into the night. 


	20. Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen: Easter and Exams  
  
It seemed to Harry that the exams had suddenly leapt out and surprised everyone, even Hermione seemed more nervous about them then usual. 'You do realise they'll determine what we go on to do next year?' she repeated every time Ron asked her to calm down, like some kind of sacred oath.  
  
'Yes, which is why you don't need to worry about exams like Potions, who wants to keep doing that?'  
  
'Face it Ron,' Ginny joked back, 'Hermione could keep doing every subject and still get better marks than you or Harry.'  
  
'I know,' Ron replied, grinning at Harry. 'Irritating isn't it?' he added, then ducked to avoid the book that Hermione threw at him. Smiling, Harry gestured between his revision work and his broomstick before shaking his head. 'I know how you feel,' Ron replied to the silent complaint. 'Dean's trying to teach me everything about football in between revision.'  
  
Once again, all Harry could do was smile, not even a laugh could escape his mouth at the moment, and still no one knew why. Even Harry, who had assumed it might have been something to do with the fear of knowing Kilmorie was after him, could not decide why his voice hadn't returned. Picking up a scrap of parchment he scribbled a note and chucked it to Ron; Going to be a good laugh trying to do Divination like this, it read, and Ron chuckled at Harry's wry face.  
  
'At least you don't have to talk to her,' Ron replied, faking a gloomy voice and rolling his eyes, before returning to poring over his notes.  
  
Even though it was the Easter holidays, it seemed to Harry that all of Gryffindor tower was spending their time revising for exams, either in the library or the common room. Even Fred and George were trying hard, seeking to make up for their lack of O.W.L.s with good N.E.W.T marks.  
  
Since the day when Harry had lost his voice, and the bonds between all of them had almost been lost, Ron and Hermione had taken to revising up in the tower with Harry, so they could speak with him, even if he couldn't speak back. Ginny had also taken to revising with them, not only to reconcile with Ron, but also to stop her friends asking her what had happened.  
  
Not even Ron or Hermione knew what had gone on that night, and Harry suspected that while Sirius knew who had been involved, he still didn't know the full extent of what Harry and Ginny had heard. In any case, Harry was sure that Dumbledore definitely knew, not only because Ginny had told him, but also because he always knew.  
  
* * *  
  
A meeting in the dark, once more a single candle burned, casting light among the people assembled in the dark chamber.  
  
'Are we all here?' the old voice asked, sensing the curiosity among the rest of the group.  
  
'What's this about?' the snappy voice asked brusquely, interrupting the silence, and increasing the tension in the room.  
  
'I think you know,' the old one continued calmly, 'that Harry Potter has become aware of our plan.'  
  
'Who doesn't?' the calm one remarked wryly. 'Unfortunate that it's happened this way.'  
  
'Most unfortunate, especially as he has misinterpreted our plan.' Once again silence fell, and this time no one interrupted. 'He knows the Cambirer is after him, that is enough to scare anyone, but he also knows the Cambirer will attack his friends.'  
  
'Then.that's why?' It was the old female voice that asked the question on everyone's lips.  
  
'That is why he is still suffering the shock, he knows that one of his friends may well be killed,' the old voice replied solemnly. 'We can only hope this won't stop Kilmorie doing his job,' he continued, letting the others absorb the information, 'but warn him to take care when he does act. I want to avoid any unnecessary difficulties.'  
  
'And you think that will happen with a Cambirer?' the snappy voice asked sarcastically.  
  
'I'm allowed to hope,' the old voice replied, and the shadow nods to dismiss everyone, they all leave apart from the owner of the calm voice, who detaches himself from the wall again.  
  
'It was me that Potter overheard, speaking with Kilmorie?'  
  
'Yes.'  
  
'Then it's not just you who is hoping Kilmorie will do this right,' Snape replied, and with a nod to the shadow he departed.  
  
* * *  
  
'That,' Ron moaned, 'was a new definition of pain, torture, agony, madness and general cruelty to-'  
  
'Dumb animals?' Hermione cut in, laughing at the face Ron pulled.  
  
'I was going to say innocent students, but if you're going to include yourself in that last one.' This time he wasn't fast enough to dodge the clip around his head that Hermione sent after him. 'I'm serious though, I swear Binns never teaches us half of the questions on his exam papers.'  
  
'That's because you only ever go to a quarter of the lessons,' Hermione replied with a teasing grin, and Harry pulled off an admirable impersonation of a snoring Ron in class.  
  
'Well you only make it to half of them,' Ron replied to Harry, giving him a light shove as his friend continued to sleepwalk around.  
  
Ahead of them in the corridor they saw Ginny's class leaving their exam, and once again to avoid speaking with anyone, Ginny rushed up to the three of them. 'How did it go?' she asked, directing the question at Hermione and clamping a hand over Ron's mouth before he could say a word.  
  
'Not bad, misery-guts was moaning that he hadn't heard of half the goblins,' she added, smirking as Ron tried to speak around his sister's hand.  
  
'So that tells me what you thought,' Ginny continued, taking her hand away from Ron's mouth, 'Harry?' he gave her two thumbs up in response, but the wariness of the smile on his face suggested it could have gone better.  
  
'How was Transfiguration?' Ron asked, nodding towards the classroom as they walked past it on their way back to the tower.  
  
'Well, my teacup didn't have a tail when I was done with it,' she replied, poking her tongue out at Ron, 'but it squeaked when the kettle was put down beside it so I must have lost a few marks.'  
  
'Was that your last one then?' Hermione asked as they started climbing the stairs up to the tower.  
  
'Nope, Divination tomorrow, what about you?'  
  
'Just Care of Magical Creatures for me,' Hermione replied, 'but they've got the wonderful Divination exam tomorrow as well.'  
  
'Are you going to be okay?' Ginny asked Harry, 'Trelawney knows that you won't be able to speak to her.' Harry nodded in reply, and his grin was explained when Ron started complaining again.  
  
'He'll be fine, he not only gets an extension so he can write down what he sees, if anything, but he can also re-sit the exam later if he has to.' The way Harry's eyes reacted to the last bit, Ginny could tell he wouldn't sit it again no matter what the result.  
  
* * *  
  
Once again Harry, Ron and Hermione found the Care of Magical Creatures exam undemanding, this time Hagrid has produced a Niffler based exam paper, and they managed to get through it in no time. The practical half of the exam was even easier, not trusting the Nifflers to be loose, Hagrid simply made them get their Niffler to find some coins hidden around a large cage.  
  
Nodding and smiling happily, Hagrid walked over to talk with them as Neville's Niffler ran around the cage causing havoc as it dug up coins. Ducking a piece of flying earth, Harry smiled up as Hagrid sat down with them on the Great Hall's floor. 'Nearly there Neville,' he commented as Neville ran around picking up the various coins that his Niffler had thrown out so far. 'Just keep goin', yeh'll get them all in a second.'  
  
'Hagrid,' Hermione commented, her voice slightly disapproving, 'Is there anyway to actually not get full marks on this exam?' But before he could reply, Harry poked Hermione in the shoulder and pointed to where Crabbe and Goyle sat, still trying to fill in their exam papers. She grinned happily, then rephrased her question, 'Is there anyway for a Gryffindor to fail this exam?'  
  
'Well,' Hagrid said, coughing secretly but not managing to look conspicuous at all, 'Yeh'd have to be pretty unlucky for your Niffler not to find all the coins, so not really.' His grin was wide, 'Anyways, you lot have always known whatever I've asked yeh, so why shouldn't yeh be allowed to pass?' Looking up for a second his grin became wider as he saw Neville frantically chasing his Niffler which held the last piece of gold in its mouth still. 'Yeh've no more exams anyway,' he continued, 'shouldn't yeh be thinkin' of something else now - like the Quidditch match?'  
  
'Don't remind me,' Ron groaned, 'I can see why Harry was getting mad at Wood - Angelina wouldn't let us go to sleep last night!'  
  
'Yeh goin' to win though?'  
  
'Course we are, right, Harry?' Ron said, and the nod from Harry only bolstered his spirits. 'So far we've beat the Slytherins at everything else.'  
  
'Don't get too overconfident,' Hermione interrupted. 'It did take Wood a few years to win the Quidditch cup - even with his perfect team.'  
  
'She's right y'know,' Hagrid remarked, 'of course, there were good reasons for yeh not winning those years.'  
  
'Harry being unconscious for one,' Ron said, grinning at Harry as he let his tongue flop out and eyes wobble. 'Anyway - we always beat Slytherin, it was just bad luck the other times.'  
  
'And there aren't any Dementors around either,' Hermione said. 'Harry made sure of that in the Defence exam.'  
  
'I heard about that,' Hagrid remarked, and indeed most of the school had. With careful lessons from McGonagall, Harry had learnt to cast reasonably powerful spells through his wand by thinking the words. The basis of the Defence Against the Dark Arts exam had been practicing Patroni, something most of the students had managed quite well.  
  
But when Harry had taken his turn, the Boggart they had been using had produced more than one Dementor. Not only had Harry managed to conjure up his Patronus with little difficulty, it had also managed to defeat every one of the Dementors in a few seconds. Everyone was puzzled as to why more than one Dementor had appeared, but to Harry the explanation was clear; it was because a group of them would be needed to inject the same fear in him that the Cambirer now produced.  
  
Thinking back to when Lupin had been teaching them, Harry remembered what Lupin had told him the first time he confronted a Boggart. While Harry had only feared fear itself back then, he now feared for his friends as well, ever since Cedric's death in fact, and that was who the Cambirer was threatening.  
  
* * *  
  
That night, after escaping from Angelina's second last-minute strategy talk, Harry and Ron had gone straight to their room to sleep, but for the first time in a while Harry found an unwelcome dream disturbing him.  
  
He had to speak, he had to say something or it would be too late. He was alone again, alone in the rain and cold, apart from the shadows, shadows all around him. There was a flash of light and another figure appeared, crumpled on the floor. Stumbling over mud and grass he turned them over to reveal Ginny's face, pale and lifeless. 'No!' he heard his voice return as he lifted her, shook her shoulders in vain, 'Ginny, no! Wake up! WAKE UP!'  
  
His hand shook as blood crept onto it, flowing everywhere as his chest burned. Looking down he saw that it wasn't the Liefgema that caused the pain. Instead, a silver blade stuck out, Harry's own blood on it. Slowly, it travelled backwards, and a shove in his back sent Harry forward, still holding Ginny's cold body in his arms.  
  
As they lay in the darkness, the world fading around them, he could see the shadows dancing in victory. Ginny's eyes opened weakly, the sparkle of light in them fading away with the rest as the shadows closed in. In the darkness, Harry saw his Liefgema in a burst of light, its colours raging in pain and agony, before calming, then slowly fading into the darkness. 


	21. Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty: Choices  
  
The next morning, Harry awoke refreshed and full of energy, which was a shock. So far this year he had been drained of all enthusiasm before the Quidditch matches. Sitting up, he felt good but also had a sense of wariness, something had definitely disturbed him the night before but he couldn't remember what. Shaking off the sensation, he changed quickly and went down to the common room, and, sure enough, found Ron asleep in a chair.  
  
A gentle shake brought him awake and he found Harry waving a bit of toast he'd brought up from the kitchens. Beside Harry stood Dobby the house elf. 'Harry Potter is telling me that you is needing your breakfast, Mr. Wheezy.'  
  
'It's just Ron,' he groaned, shaking stiffness from his limbs. 'I've told you that before Dobby, and how did Harry manage to tell you that anyway?'  
  
'I is always knowing what Harry Potter wants,' Dobby replied, staring at Ron as if this was true of everyone. 'He is telling me in his eyes,' Dobby continued as Harry slumped into another chair, still grinning, 'and you is telling me that.' for a second he stared deeply at Ron, 'that your toast is not burnt enough?'  
  
'Well.yeah,' Ron said, slightly awkwardly as he didn't want to offend Dobby's cooking, but with a wave of his fingers the house elf sent a burst of heat into the toast. The edges singed in Ron's hand without burning it and the toast blackened as the wave of energy spread through it.  
  
'Harry Potter is also good with a quill,' Dobby added after Ron's toast had finished cooking, then with a nod to the both of them he disappeared in familiar flash of light.  
  
'I still don't know whether or not to be scared by him,' Ron said, his voice still scratchy from sleeping for so long. 'When do we have to be down at the pitch?' He looked up to see Harry holding up two fingers, a wry grin on his face. 'Two hours!' Ron exclaimed, 'Tell me this happened to you - otherwise I'm going to feel like a complete idiot.'  
  
Harry just nodded in reply, biting into his own slice of toast he'd smuggled up from the kitchen, staring into the fire as it twisted and spun.  
  
His Liefgema appeared in a burst of light, its colours raging in pain and agony, before calming, then slowly fading into the darkness.  
  
'Harry!' Ron was standing over him, his toast dropped on the floor, Harry pulled his hand down from his head, having subconsciously grabbed his scar. 'What happened?' Shaking his head in bewilderment, Harry grabbed a piece of parchment, just as Ginny ran down the stairs, holding his Liefgema in her hand.  
  
'What's wrong?' she asked, seeing Harry's pain as he scrabbled for a quill. 'His scar hurts,' Ron said, 'but how did you know?'  
  
'This,' Ginny replied, 'it did a funny swirly thing and woke me up.'  
  
'Why would it.oh.' Ron stopped, suddenly realising that he could be in trouble.  
  
'I'm not going to kill you,' Ginny said, 'but this year make sure I get a brilliant birthday present.' She stopped him from replying as Harry frantically scribbled on the piece of parchment. Saw my Liefgema - the fire looked like it.  
  
'I am safe to say that means nothing to anyone?' Ron asked, getting nods from both Harry and Ginny. 'It was probably just because you're tired, or something - you saw them both?' he continued, trying to dispel the fear in Ginny's eyes. 'Why did that gem thing go swirly anyway?' he asked, trying to start a conversation in the midst of the unsettling silence.  
  
'Because Harry's went.swirly,' Ginny replied, frowning awkwardly, 'I thought you lot would have figured this out by now. The gem plays off your emotions. This one was Harry's, so when he gets worried - or swirly or whatever - it shows in this.' While Ron was examining Harry's gem as Ginny held it in front of him, Harry pulled out hers and looked at the colours within the gem. They too were dancing like flames, but in a blue shade.  
  
Scribbling on another scrap of parchment, he handed it to her, You okay? She nodded in reply, then passed the note onto Ron who also nodded back to Harry. 'I need more food though, reckon breakfast will be on the tables yet?' Harry just grinned in response at Ron's look, and nodded.  
  
'What about Hermione?' Ginny asked, seeing Ron's face flush slightly.  
  
'Well, I can't go and get her.could you?' he asked weakly.  
  
'Honestly,' Ginny said with mock severity, 'brothers are more trouble then they're worth.' But she went back up the stairs anyway. A few minutes later she returned with Hermione, who had already woken up anyway because she had also guessed Ron's nerves would wake him early.  
  
'Morning,' she said pleasantly but also sounding tired, 'where's the food?' she asked immediately, delighting at the sour face Ron pulled. 'Of course it's nice to see you two as well.' Harry grinned, and led the way with Ginny following as Hermione dragged the still sour-faced Ron out of his chair.  
  
Looking out of a window as they followed the winding passages down the stairs, Harry saw black clouds gathering overhead and nudged Ginny, pointing to them. 'It'll be heavy,' she said. 'Make sure Hermione fixes your glasses for it.' The mention of heavy rain stirred something in Harry and he suddenly felt a pain in his scar again, and grabbed hold of a suit of armour for support.  
  
Stumbling over mud and grass he turned the person over to reveal a blurred face, pale and lifeless, blood streaming everywhere as the rain fell.  
  
'Bloody hell, that's twice now,' Ron commented, then saw Harry was awake, or at least focused once more. Letting Ginny pull his hand away, he felt her fingers run over his forehead.  
  
'I don't think he's ill or anything,' she said, stepping back so Ron could give him a hand up. Harry waved Ron's hand off after he stood, just shaking his head and gesturing to his mouth where he pretended to chew something.  
  
'He's right,' Hermione said. 'Once we all get something to eat it'll help us wake up.' But as she walked past Ginny, following Harry and Ron she muttered out of the side of her mouth, 'Watch him.' Ginny nodded silently in response, walking a bit faster so she was level with Harry, but he didn't fall or stumble the rest of the way to the Great Hall.  
  
Sure enough, the house elves had already put the breakfasts out. Sitting down, Harry and Ron began to attack bacon with a vengeance while the girls took a more civilised approach. Ginny watched Harry carefully, he seemed okay - even more energised then she'd seen him all term. There couldn't be anything wrong with him? But even as she thought that, Ginny felt a chill in her stomach, and the memory of overhearing Snape and Kilmorie crept back to her.  
  
Harry was as puzzled by everyone else by the sudden visions, but his confusion only increased by the fact that otherwise he felt fine. By now even his scar had stopped aching. Eating his bacon hungrily, he managed not to look up, aware that Ginny wanted to watch him unobserved, also aware that Hermione had probably put her up to it.  
  
Making certain that he kept eating, Harry felt the sudden chill that emanated from Ginny's Liefgema as it brushed against him. Flinching, he looked up to see she had focused elsewhere but wore a worried look. Harry was sure that Ginny was thinking about the meeting between Kilmorie and Snape they had witnessed, nothing else could have brought the same reaction in her gem. Potter and Weasley, was what Snape had said. No wonder that Ginny must be feeling the same fear, but for her brothers, her family.  
  
Reaching out tenderly, he caught her hand on the table and enclosed it with his own, making her jump, but she smiled afterwards. Giving her a squeeze of reassurance, Harry then pointed to the butter with a grin, hiding the moment of security between the two of them from Ron and Hermione. Smiling back at him she slid the dish over, then resumed eating her toast, Harry was right, there was probably nothing to worry about.  
  
A loud screeching interrupted everyone's thoughts as a white ball screamed down the table towards them. By the time Harry had drawn his wand, Hermione was already lifting the ball off course with a levitation spell, but it wasn't strong enough to catch the dark ball that came running along behind it. Harry was about to curse the ball when Ginny reached a hand over and lowered his wand, pulling her hand back she let the ball fly past.  
  
Mrs. Norris slipped in the butter dish and continued skidding along the table before bouncing off a plate and falling onto the floor. 'Ha, bloody ha,' a sour voice muttered, and Harry followed Ginny's gaze to see Jenks floating above the table, his paws treading air. 'Down? Please?' he asked Hermione irately, his feline features somehow twisting into an even more discontented shape. 'Every bloody time,' he muttered as Hermione lowered him from mid-air. 'I can't get a decent rest.'  
  
'Why does she keep going after you like that?' Ron asked as Jenks descended to the table, landing in a space amid the plates.  
  
'Animal magnetism,' Jenks replied, his voice wry. 'I suppose it could have been because I told Filch that he looked like a scruffy tramp, but I've never known him to hold a grudge.' Around him, he was suddenly aware of several silenced laughs and that the four were looking at the ceiling, floor, and butter covered Mrs. Norris.  
  
'Fine, fine, I know what you think,' he said, exasperated, and was proven right when Ron and Hermione burst out laughing at the same time. 'Students,' he hissed theatrically, then stalked off before the buttery Mrs. Norris could rearrange her legs to chase after him. As he padded out the door he heard Ginny dissolve into laughter as well, and his tail flicked in amusement, glad that he'd improved their moods before the match.  
  
As he left, Angelina poked her head around the door and shot a glare at Harry and Ron, who both froze and tried to look innocent, but failed as the bacon they were eating fell out of their mouths. Leaving their places, they walked quickly out of the hall, followed by Angelina, and then a few minutes later by Hermione and Ginny, both of whom were bright red from laughing.  
  
* * *  
  
As they crossed the lawn to the Quidditch pitch, the first spots of rain began to fall. Running the rest of the way, they made it inside the shelter of the team room before it increased to a torrent, sheets of water falling from the sky. Leaning inside the entrance, Harry caught sight of Ginny's face, glistening where the rain had fallen down her face.  
  
Ginny's face, pale and lifeless, blood streaming everywhere as the rain fell.  
  
The image flashed before him quickly, but then Ginny's face came into focus again, she was still laughing with Hermione, the moisture only making her skin glow. Noticing Harry's glance, she smiled at him then quickly pinched his glasses off his nose, wiping the raindrops off of them. Tapping Hermione on the shoulder she gave them to her as Angelina led Harry and Ron into the room where they were going over the plan.  
  
A few minutes after they had changed, Hermione and Ginny came into the room and joined Harry and Ron where they sat. Hermione handed Harry his glasses, then turned to where Ron sat wringing his hands nervously. Sitting down beside him, Hermione put her hand onto his, holding it calmly and smiling into his face as he looked up. 'You're going to be okay.'  
  
'I know,' he replied, 'but that doesn't mean my stomach knows,' he added, rubbing his other hand over his robes.  
  
'All that bacon,' Ginny said in a voice resembling her mother's. 'Silly boy.' Harry poked her with a grin on his face, gesturing to his own stomach. 'Poor thin boy like you needs feeding up,' she said, making his grin widen.  
  
'Time to go,' Angelina said, her own voice wobbling slightly, this match would decide whether or not she had successfully filled Wood's shoes. Leading the team out, she didn't notice the four of them hanging back as everyone else piled into the corridor.  
  
'Good luck,' Ginny said to Ron and Harry, then hugged her brother before leaving by the entrance to the stands, leaving Hermione with them. Hugging Harry, then Ron, she turned to leave but paused at the door. Shooting a nervous grin to Harry, he nodded a goodbye to her, then followed the rest of the team down the corridor, carefully not looking back.  
  
Watching Harry's retreating back, Ron turned back in time to stare into Hermione's eyes, and before he knew what was happening they were kissing. Tensing at first, Ron felt himself relax as Hermione's hand came around his back into a hug that he found himself returning. As suddenly as it had begun, it was over and they both drew back, already Ron felt the colour in his cheeks. 'I've wanted to do that since you chose me,' Hermione whispered softly, closing her eyes and resting her forehead against his.  
  
'I.I've wanted to do that since.forever,' Ron replied, surprised at his own honesty as he hugged her again.  
  
'Go win,' she said, looking at him with bright eyes, 'make me and Gryffindor proud.' With that she kissed him quickly on the cheek, then she followed Ginny out of the door, leaving Ron alone in the corridor with his thoughts. They were interrupted by the sudden roar of the crowd as the Lee's voice rang out in the stadium.  
  
With a few seconds to spare, Ron arrived and took his place beside Harry, glad he didn't have to look back at the curious stares from Fred and George. Sneaking a look at Harry, Ron saw his friend hold up four fingers, then flash him a grin. Ron knew what they meant, one for every year that he'd done nothing about his feelings for Hermione.  
  
Ron opened his mouth to reply, but then the call came for the Gryffindor team, and they stepped out onto the field. 


	22. Chapter Twenty One

Chapter Twenty-One: Gryffindor versus Slytherin  
  
Stepping out from the changing room tunnel, the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams walked into a virtual waterfall of rain. Again Harry stumbled, but this time where his feet caught in the mud. Against the lightning that now flashed through the sky he wouldn't have been able to tell if he was still seeing things or if there was a figure lying on the ground near him.  
  
Up in the stands, Dumbledore watched Harry waver then stand resolute and felt a hint of reassurance as the boy surveyed the pitch before him. 'Got your eye on someone?' Jenks asked, from his cheeky perch on the arm of the chair Dumbledore sat in.  
  
'Everyone deserves to be watched,' Dumbledore replied, the twinkle in his eye causing Jenks's whiskers to rise in a feral smile. 'Where is Julian, I would have thought he might have been interested in this game?'  
  
Leaning in towards Dumbledore, Jenks's eyes swivelled around before he replied, 'He thinks something's going to happen today, he's watching though - he told me you might worry.' To his satisfaction, Dumbledore nodded in approval. 'I'll find him after the match though, no one could try something in a place this packed.' Dumbledore made to reply, but was interrupted as the wind increased, and the magical megaphone hummed over the stands.  
  
'For the final time this year,' Lee Jordan yelled over the storm, 'we present the Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch teams!' there was a massive cheer as neither house wanted to boo their own teams. 'On the Slytherin team, Terrence Higgs the captain has gone for his usual starters, with his brother Stephen replacing Marcus Flint.'  
  
'He's good,' Angelina said to Katie and Alicia, 'but we're better.' In her voice there was a steely undertone as well as inspiration for the whole team.  
  
'And on the Gryffindor team, we have only the one change from the cup winners of two years ago, with captain Angelina Johnson's new Keeper; Ron Weasley!' The crowd cheered again, and to Harry's satisfaction he could not hear the booing that escaped the mouths of the Slytherins. 'And here to start the match, Madam Hooch!'  
  
'Keep it clean,' she said sternly to both captains as they met in the middle, but the glare between Angelina and Higgs told her not to expect it. Nodding to both teams, she let them mount their brooms, then blew her whistle sharply, sending players, brooms and balls up into the air. Immediately, Harry found the rain plastering his robes to his skin, but it did little to detract from the normal feeling he got from flying, quelling his jittery stomach.  
  
'And it's Slytherin in possession of the Quaffle, that's Warrington speeding up the - ouch! Bludger to the elbow and the Quaffle falls to Bell of Gryffindor. She's speeding up the pitch - that's a good pass to Spinnet.but it's intercepted by Higgs the Chaser, astonishing flying there and he's in on the goal! ASTOUNDING SAVE BY RON WEASLEY! And the Quaffle with Johnson now, really flying today - Bludger! - no, she's around it and Montague! Clear on the post and SHE SCORES! An early lead to Gryffindor!'  
  
Circling high in celebration, Angelina twisted round as one of the Slytherin team attempted to knock her broom, dodging the blow with ease. 'Not this year!' she shouted at them as they went past.  
  
'Slytherin in possession, that's another good pass through to Higgs, but he's lost the Quaffle - a sound Bludger hit by one of the Weasleys - it's fallen to Montague though and he's past Bell! Up to the posts - no! Stolen by Bell for Gryffindor! She's halfway up the pitch, looks clear - OI!'  
  
Lee's objection coincided with an uproar in the crowd as the new Slytherin Chaser clipped her arm with his broom, sending her dangerously close to the stands. 'I said no contact!' Madam Hooch yelled angrily, signalling for a penalty to Gryffindor. Katie put it away with ease, despite the almost constant (and loud) criticism of the Slytherin team by Lee.  
  
Flying overhead, Harry was grateful to Hermione's charm on his glasses, but despite the fact they remained free of water, it did not change the fact that it was sleeting down all around him. Looking behind him, he saw Malfoy experiencing the same problems, his face beaded with raindrops. Turning back, Harry twisted violently to avoid a Bludger that looped towards him from Bole's bat. Unfortunately, it continued looping and so missed Malfoy as he trailed Harry by a few feet, his broomstick shaking as Harry's did in the high wind.  
  
'Johnson in possession, good pass to Bell - intercepted by Montague! Taken back by Spinnet though - no wait, lost to Higgs! It's a battle out there for that Quaffle!' listening to Lee's description, Harry risked a quick glance at the match. Higgs was dispossessed of the Quaffle just a few seconds later when Alicia spun through a whirl of players to snatch it from his hand, only to find herself speeding into the path of a Bludger.  
  
Spinning around she let the black ball take the Quaffle instead, hurling it back into the mix of Slytherin and Gryffindor chasers. Target lost, the Bludger spun off on another course as Montague emerged from the whirl of players with the Quaffle. Speeding up the pitch he was in time to meet the other Bludger as it hit him square in the chest, flying behind it, Fred let out a cry of delight at his work. Still spinning around, Alicia grabbed the Quaffle again and began flying towards the Slytherin goal posts, the other players untangling themselves and then chasing after her.  
  
'GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL FOR GRYFFINDOR!' Lee's yell was so loud that Harry heard it over the clap of thunder which crashed over the stadium. Punching the air victoriously, Alicia let out a cry of pain as Bole brought his club down on her arm. He opened his mouth to protest the inevitable whistle, but George's vengeful Bludger smacked him in the teeth before he could mutter a word. Whistling angrily, Madam Hooch signalled for two penalties, both of which were quickly put away by the Chasers on each team.  
  
'And so after that load of -' but McGonagall had the megaphone before Lee could voice the protest, having learnt from the previous few years what to expect. Receiving it back with a glare he continued under her watchful eye. 'The score is thirty-ten to Gryffindor, but here come Slytherin on another attack! Higgs is flying like a professional out there - he's around Bell and Johnson and through on the goal!'  
  
Harry stopped searching in time to see Higgs send a scorching shot at the middle post, while Ron tried to out-fly the first legal Bludger shot of the game. Diving down as it got too close, Ron swerved around the post as splinters of wood shattered over him. The Quaffle had not gone through the hoop, or rather it had but in a hundred pieces as the Bludger had pulverised it. 'No points, new Quaffle!' Madam Hooch shouted, ignoring the cry of protest from both Higgs players on the Slytherin team.  
  
Using the moment to pause, Harry saw Fred fly up from the ground carrying a white patch that he stuck to Ron's forehead, covering a gash from the Quaffle shards. 'Looks like your whole team will be a bunch of scarheads soon,' Malfoy sneered, floating up beside Harry. Glaring back, Harry settled for ignoring Malfoy's jibe and watching Madam Hooch summon a new Quaffle that shot to her through the sheeting rain.  
  
Harry felt a punch on his arm and turned to face Draco again. 'They won't be the only ones with scars after today,' he hissed. Before Harry could do anything Draco flew off again, becoming a blur in the deluge that swept over the pitch, and the game began again as Angelina swooped in to snatch the Quaffle. He was so distracted that George had to shove Harry sideways so he didn't club him in the face as he diverted the Bludger that had been swooping towards Harry's head.  
  
'Stay focused Harry,' he said quickly. 'Don't let that little ferret distract you.' Flying off, he swooped to join Fred who had started protectively circling the three Chasers as they shot towards the Slytherin goalposts. Nodding half to himself, half to George, Harry began trailing Malfoy around the pitch, carefully keeping his Firebolt back behind the Nimbus 2001 that Draco flew on.  
  
'Forty-ten to Gryffindor!' Lee said exuberantly as the spearheaded formation shot through the Slytherin goal area. 'Pucey in possession for Slytherin now.passed to Montague who's around Bell! Passed onto Higgs and he's making another run on the Gryffindor goal! No! A double Bludger attack from the Weasleys! Spinnet with the Quaffle now - but there's the Snitch!'  
  
Flitting in the rain, Harry and Malfoy saw the Snitch at the same time, both speeding towards the walnut sized ball as it hovered, unaware of their presence. Lying flat against his broom Harry easily outpaced Malfoy as they shot towards the Snitch, but the small ball had one last surprise and exploded into movement as Harry made to grab it. He found his hand closing on thin air as the Snitch flew back underneath him, swiftly followed by Malfoy as Harry struggled to turn his broom in the storm.  
  
Spinning under a Slytherin Beater, Harry completed his turn and started chasing after Malfoy who was having his own problems flying into the wind. Pulling almost alongside him, Harry made sure to keep an arm's length away from Malfoy, not giving him the chance to grab his broom again. Speeding up higher and higher they followed the Snitch as it climbed towards the roof of the stands. Trying to concentrate as rain poured over him, Harry almost missed the Snitch as it suddenly dove straight down towards the floor of the stadium.  
  
Diving down, Harry and Malfoy were buffeted by the wind, their elbows smashing together as they tried to stay on a line with the Snitch. Halfway down the dive, Harry suddenly felt a sharp pain against his chest, which cooled quickly, freezing him to his soul. Blinking back water that had crept round his glasses, Harry realised only a second later that they were tears that were flowing down his face. A shove from Malfoy snapped Harry back from the distraction, and he noticed the Snitch was starting to slide towards him as they dove.  
  
Pushing Malfoy back, Harry made sure he kept the Snitch in front of him, blocking Malfoy as he tried to move into Harry's path. Trying to ignore the chilling feeling in his chest, Harry urged the Firebolt on, increasingly aware of the ground as it sped towards the two of them. Closing his eyes, Harry willed the tears away and opened them to find the Snitch darting into his hand as Malfoy slammed into him again.  
  
Closing his fingers over the Snitch, Harry pulled up suddenly, letting Draco continue towards the ground with a shattering thump as his broom grounded there. Almost immediately Harry found the team mobbing him, even Ron managed to unsteadily make his way down to the pitch's floor as the mass of Gryffindor players slowly descended.  
  
As they landed, the rest of Gryffindor house spilt onto the field, surrounding the team, and Harry felt the thumps on his back from Dean and Seamus, saw Neville's grin as they celebrated. Off to his left Ron and Hermione embraced one another, but Harry ignored all of this, digging deep beneath his robe and pulling out Ginny's Liefgema. Looking around, he caught sight of Parvati on the edge of the crowd and fought his way to her.  
  
As she opened her mouth to say congratulations, Harry frantically put a hand to his lips and shook his head. Without needing to explain he put the gem in her hand, and Parvati's eyes unfocused as her fingers closed. After what seemed like years but was just a few seconds, she opened them, and Harry saw the fear in her eyes as she gasped for breath. Grabbing Dean, they were both in time to support her as she stumbled, looking up at Harry she whispered to him. 'The forest, they're in the forest.' 


	23. Chapter Twenty Two

Chapter Twenty-Two: Kilmorie Harry ran, fighting through the crowd that had descended on the pitch from all the houses but Slytherin, dodging past a group of second years, Harry found himself in the entranceway to the stadium. Clambering up from the ground, Draco watched in satisfaction as he saw Harry turning in the entrance, his eyes wide and panicked, then with a smile he walked off to join his team. They're in the forest.Parvati's voice echoed in Harry's head as he tried to fight through the crowd as they descended on the pitch. Without warning his scar burst into pain and Harry stumbled aside, leaning against the wall. There was a flash of light and another figure appeared, crumpled on the floor. Stumbling over mud and grass he turned them over to reveal Ginny's face, pale and lifeless. Why hadn't he seen it before? Of course they would go after Ginny. It would hurt everyone. 'Potter!!' a voice called from his knee and Harry's eyes snapped open to see Jenks running towards him through the crowd, his tail whipping around in agitation. Arriving at Harry's feet, he opened his mouth but could only let out a hiss when Harry picked him up, slamming him into a wall. 'Don't be so eager,' Jenks spat, clawing at Harry's hands. 'I know Julian's gone, but I can track him -- and I know he took Ginny as well.' I don't know why though, he added in the privacy of his own head. Nodding carefully, Harry loosened his grip and lowered Jenks to the floor, but kept his face non-repentant as he did so. 'Come on,' he said, taking off through the thinning crowd as everyone ran to the pitch. Looking back to where Ron and Hermione were with the team, Harry couldn't see them amongst the crowd of faces. 'Come on!' Jenks yelled back again at Harry, and with a last glance backwards he took off after him. Outside, Harry found himself drenched by rain again in an instant, the Quidditch robes he wore weighing him down as he chased Jenks, who remained starkly white against the gloom of the day. Running past Hagrid's hut, Jenks skipped over a dozing Fang who was apparently impervious to the rain, but awoke when Jenks's tail rubbed over his nose. He was immediately distracted by Harry who tore past him, then even more so when Jenks turned to shout. 'Fang! Get Hagrid! Now!' Slightly confused by Harry and Jenk's presence, Fang waited a second, then let out a loud bark and ran towards the stadium. Running into the forest, Harry felt branches tear at his face and wet leaves mixed with mud sticking to his shoes as he stumbled and slid after Jenks. Lightning flashed, and Harry recognised the path that he was taking, a hidden trail that he and Draco had followed in their first year. Sliding over a hillock, Harry found himself almost treading on Jenks where the mud- covered cat had frozen in the middle of the path, ignoring the rain that fell everywhere. Harry's stomach tightened as he realised where they had stopped and then he stumbled past Jenks into a clearing, it was the same glade he and Draco had stopped in.the same glade where he had first met Voldemort. There was a rupture of thunder, and afterwards a small sobbing sound reached Harry's ears, it was more of a sudden cry then a continuous sound. Drawing his wand, Harry focused and ignited the end, throwing the glade into light, revealing the source of the cry. Soaked to their skin, Kilmorie and Ginny stood against a tree on the far side of the glade, the elderly professor holding a silver blade to her throat 'Not one move, Potter,' he whispered harshly, almost as if he sensed Harry tensing, 'or I'll cut her pretty throat -- and you know I will.' Drawing his own wand, Kilmorie pointed it at the crossing branches overhead, 'Impervius' he muttered. The water that fell down on them suddenly diverted to the sides of the glade. Wiping beads of rain off his glasses Harry saw that Ginny's hands were bound in front of her, preventing her from pulling at the arm holding the knife to her throat. 'What the hell are you playing at, Julian?' Jenks snarled, baring his teeth at his friend as he emerged into the clearing to stand beside Harry. 'Julian's dead,' the man replied, 'he died a long time ago.' Shifting his hold on the dagger, Harry saw gold shimmer in the light against Ginny's neck. Looking closely he saw it was the chain that held his Liefgema, and Kilmorie was pulling the gem back to hold Ginny still. Glancing into her eyes, Harry made out the fear he had felt through her gem, the ice cold feeling that still crept through his chest. 'So, now I finally get to finish my business here,' Kilmorie continued, 'but how to do it?' 'Don't touch the children,' Jenks snarled, and Harry admired the courage that he was showing, despite the fact they both knew there was little they could do. 'I'm warning you, Kilmorie.' The man spat in reply, bringing the blade closer to Ginny's neck and pulling the links of the chain into her throat. 'You know how I work,' he continued, staring into Harry's eyes, 'don't you, Potter?' Harry nodded, his own eyes wide, not daring to argue with the man. 'And what kind of impression would I make if I were to change how I work simply because you asked me?' 'NO!' Harry yelled, the word tearing through his throat as Kilmorie's hold on the dagger tensed, and deep within Harry he felt a rage build at the man before him. With a surprised cry, Kilmorie dropped the chain that he held Ginny with, his fingers burning with pain where Harry's Liefgema had been touching them. There was a blur of motion and Harry saw Kilmorie bring the dagger across Ginny's neck in a shimmer of light as she fell to the floor, collapsing in the mud. At the same instant Jenks had leapt forward, and there was an intense burst of light that blinded Harry, causing him to drop his wand in the mud. Stumbling forward, Harry felt a spray of warm liquid over his face, then knelt beside Ginny, pulling her upright as the spell failed above them, and rain fell onto his muddied face. Turning her towards him, Harry saw blood and mud running down her face as the lightning crashed overhead and blackness threatened to overcome him. After an eternity Ginny's eyes flickered open, and Harry felt relief flood through him.until he remembered the spray of blood that had covered his face. Looking up, he saw Kilmorie standing over him, the blade stained red.  
  
Clutched in Kilmorie's other hand, Harry saw the limp body of Jenks, his muddied white fur stained with blood, blood that continued to flow from his body. Standing up on numb legs, Harry pulled Ginny up with him, pushing her behind him as a cruel grin crept onto Kilmorie's face. Almost carelessly he wiped the blade on Jenks, and then dropped the body into the mud beside him, where it mixed with the falling water into a red and brown coloured pool. Stumbling backwards, Harry noticed the other burn marks on Kilmorie's face and hands, drawing the man's gaze to them as he slowly began to advance on the couple. 'A brave fool, that one,' he muttered. 'No simple spell can defeat me.' As he retreated, shielding Ginny, Harry looked around for his wand, but could not see it among the twigs and churned up mud on the ground. Kilmorie noticed this and a humourless laugh escaped his lips. 'What makes you think that a young wizard could outcast an adult -- even in such a corrupted form?' Completing this last criticism, the man lunged forward suddenly, driving his dagger towards Harry's face as he stumbled over Ginny. There was a keen hiss in the air, and Kilmorie spun, crying in agony as his arm was deflected away, a short blade sticking clean through it. Spinning round, Harry saw a man charge from the trees, orange fire burning in his eyes. 'MURDERER!' he yelled, drawing a sword and chopping down on Kilmorie.  
  
But Kilmorie was no longer there. Instead, the black cloaked Cambirer rose, parrying the strike with his own sword. Lightning flashed, and Harry saw the real Kilmorie lock his blade with the Cambirer then send the demon flying backwards with a kick to the midriff. 'Get out of here Harry!' he said urgently, not even turning, 'GO! NOW!' Drawing a dagger from another concealed sheath, he charged towards the demon, meeting it in a clash of steel. Taking Ginny's hands, Harry led her out in a blind panic, instinctively running back towards the path as sounds of the fight escalated behind him. As they ran, Harry pulled at the rope that bound Ginny's hands together, eventually freeing them as they stumbled back onto the path. There Harry stopped, and a few seconds later Ginny turned around to see him, staring back to where the glade was hidden among the trees. 'Harry, you heard him, please, let's go!' he turned back, and saw the tears on her face, mixing in with the mud that stained it. 'Ginny.I.I can't leave him - you saw what the thing did to Jenks!' Harry's breath was ragged, but not from the running, instead Ginny could see the painful decision in his eyes. Running back she hugged him quickly, letting him do the same as their Liefgemas warmed in their robes. 'Hagrid's coming,' Harry whispered. 'Go. Find him and get the other professors.' Pulling away, he turned to go back but found her hand holding his still, tears were flowing freely down her face now as she spoke. 'Promise me.you'll come back.promise.' 'I promise, Gin,' he replied, squeezing her hand with what felt like false reassurance, before gently pulling away from her grip. As he turned to run back to the glade, Harry was aware of Ginny doing the same, stumbling though the mud and trees to safety. Pushing aside the sodden boughs, Harry found himself back at the glade quickly, and felt his breath catch at the scene. Kilmorie and the Cambirer were engaged in a dance of blades, lunging, feinting and parrying together, driving the other back only to concede and retreat themselves a second later. And there, lying half-disguised in the mud, he saw his wand, blending almost perfectly with its surroundings on the forest floor. Sliding down the path into the glade, Harry landed in time to hear the duellists' reactions to his arrival. The Cambirer let out only a small chuckle, it's tone mocking, but Kilmorie did not even look at Harry as he shouted. 'I told you to leave!' he yelled, his orange eyes blazing, but concentrating on the demon. Harry didn't even bother replying, but instead picked up his wand from the floor, levelling it in the direction of the two fighters. Seeing a distraction in the Cambirer's pose, Kilmorie kicked out once more, sending the demon stumbling backwards. 'Stun it!' he shouted, but Harry found himself unprepared for the sudden order, and the incantation froze on his tongue. Instead, the thought found a way through his wand, and a weak spell shot out that was easily dodged by the Cambirer. Completing the dodge around the spell's path, the demon drew another long blade and threw it with casual grace at Harry, who could not match the demon's speed. His left arm erupted in pain, and Harry was thrown backward by the force of the blow until he slammed into a tree. Attempting to stand, he found his shoulder pinned to the tree behind him, the rest of the blade and handle of the throwing knife protruding from his body. The shock of the blow caused Harry to drop his wand again, losing it as he had been thrown backwards by the strength of the throw. 'Damn you!' Kilmorie yelled, and as he charged the demon he already saw his mistake, the rash slice of his sword was easily pushed aside by the new dagger the Cambirer pulled from its cloak. Despite the hood that covered its face, Kilmorie could sense the grin that passed over the demon's face as it whipped the dagger back across, opening a bloody tear on the man's face. But instead of drawing back, Kilmorie continued his charge, bringing his sword around in an arc that would cut the demon in two. Instead the blade hit only air as the Cambirer shrunk into the shadows on the floor sending up a wave of leaves as it did so. From his position Harry saw Kilmorie whirl around, then saw the Cambirer reform behind him in a tide of darkness as the wizard's vision was blocked by the cloud of leaves. Before Harry could shout a warning the Cambirer thrust forward, ramming its sword into Kilmorie's back until it emerged from the midst of the wizard's chest. A burst of lightning lit the glade and in the glare Harry saw the sword blade extending from a stain of red in Kilmorie's shirt. Releasing its hold on the hilt, the Cambirer pushed Kilmorie forwards firmly, letting the wizard stumble toward Harry with the sword through him until he eventually slumped against a tree beside him. Slowly and deliberately, the Cambirer tilted its face to look at Harry, and then shifted its hold on the dagger and started to advance towards him. Suddenly it stopped and turned, still slow and deliberate, to face Ginny who had emerged back at the edge of the glade, her wand shaking unsteadily in her hand. Chuckling softly it began walking toward her instead, spinning the blade in its hand it drew back an arm, ready to throw the dagger at Ginny as she stood there frozen. 'Potter!' Kilmorie hissed, seizing the distraction he drew his wand and threw it to Harry's right hand. 'Stun it, use anything!' he rasped, then with a shudder he rolled off the tree and collapsed on the floor. Levelling the wand at its back, Harry saw the Cambirer halt its stride toward Ginny, the confident swagger ceasing as the hood turned to focus on the wand. 'Stupefy!' Harry yelled, not giving the demon a chance to attempt to disarm him. Nothing happened. The wand remained silent in Harry's hand, no spell issuing forth from the stricken length of wood. Looking up from the end of the wand, Harry saw the Cambirer's hood focus on him, a low and mirthless chuckle issuing from within. Raising the blade again the demon turned fluidly and began to level the knife at Ginny once more.and then the world exploded in a rush of light. 


	24. Chapter Twenty Three

Chapter 23:  
  
The light faded and Harry let blackness fall over him. Even as he lost consciousness entirely, he could still hear Kilmorie groan, hear Ginny scream and the Cambirer roar before all sounds were abruptly cut off.  
  
In the blackness, he felt like the world was spinning around him, as if the fight between Kilmorie and the Cambirer had been only a dream. It seemed as if time had ceased to exist after the world had exploded into light, only to be replaced by darkness.  
  
The world returned suddenly in a blaze of light and heat, sitting bolt upright, Harry found arms holding him back, pushing him down onto the soft mattress beneath him. Blurring faces peered back at Harry as he tried to sit up again, only to be firmly held in place, then his glasses were put on for him. Looking back down were Ron and Hermione, and holding him in place were Fred and George.  
  
'Ginny?' he blurted out, passing his eyes over everyone in turn.  
  
'She's fine,' Hermione said quickly, relief evident in her eyes. 'She woke up a few minutes ago; she's not hurt at all.'  
  
'We were more worried about you, mate,' Ron said as Fred and George stopped holding Harry down. But Harry saw in their eyes that they had been equally worried for their sister. 'You did have half a sword through you after all.'  
  
Harry's eyes widened, 'Kilmorie.where's Kilmorie?'  
  
'He's.' Hermione began, but stopped as a voice spoke out over hers.  
  
'He's resting,' Madam Pomfrey replied, looking past Ron and Hermione, Harry was in time to her pull shut some curtains that surrounded the bed Kilmorie was lying in. 'You can't see him just yet,' she said to Harry as he opened his mouth to say something. 'You need a few hours sleep to get yourself back to normal again.'  
  
Walking to the door, she brandished a key at the group of them. 'I'm going to get the Headmaster, he requested that he be told when you were all awake. I'm locking the door so please don't try to break them out, you two.' She added the last part with a pointed stare at Fred and George.  
  
Shifting his pillows, Harry sat up awkwardly. Looking down he saw the edge of a vivid red scar on his shoulder where the Cambirer's blade had pierced it. 'What happened?' Ron asked suddenly, asking the question no one else had dared.  
  
'You don't have to tell us,' Hermione said quickly, shooting a small glare at Ron.  
  
'Didn't Ginny tell you?' Harry asked, glancing over at the bed beside him where she lay sleeping.  
  
'What she said.' Fred began, pausing uncertainly, 'it didn't make much sense. She remembers running for help but your gem flared or something, so she went back. When she arrived Professor Kilmorie was.'  
  
'Kilmorie was lying beside you,' George continued, 'and the demon was going after you but turned when it heard her. Then all she remembers is the world blowing up.' He added the last part with clear doubt in his voice. 'I sure as hell didn't notice anything like that earlier.'  
  
Harry nodded in agreement before speaking, 'That's more or less what I remember - Kilmorie threw me his wand as he fell and I tried to stun the Cambirer, nothing happened - and then there was just light.'  
  
'Well something must have happened,' Ron persisted.  
  
'Why?' Harry asked, seeing Hermione bite her lip as Ron had told him. 'What did happen afterwards?'  
  
'Well, I remember seeing Hagrid and Dumbledore run into the forest with Fang, then Dumbledore came out with everyone on stretchers and the other teachers helped get you up to the school.' Pausing for a second, Ron continued as Harry kept staring at him, as if knowing there was more to come. 'Anyway, Hagrid came out a second later with the Cambirer.well, bits of the Cambirer.'  
  
'Bits?' Harry asked, a queasy feeling arising in his stomach.  
  
'Sword, cloak, couple of daggers and.um.the body,' Fred offered.  
  
'Parts of the body,' George added.  
  
'Just tell me now,' Harry said pleadingly. 'I don't think the feeling in my stomach can get worse.'  
  
'Honestly,' Hermione said, her no-nonsense manner making Ron pull a face, 'Hagrid said something powerful had blown the Cambirer apart, and the rest of you were stunned by whatever had been cast.'  
  
'It could have been Dumbledore,' Ron offered, remembering what Harry had told him about the previous year.  
  
'No, Hagrid and Dumbledore left at the same time,' George cut in, 'after Fang got to Hagrid he shouted for Dumbledore straight away.'  
  
'What the hell happened out there?' Harry muttered, asking the question of himself more than anyone else.  
  
Ron opened his mouth to say something but the door swung open quickly and Madam Pomfrey bustled back inside. 'The Headmaster would like you to get some more rest, Harry, the rest of you need to leave him now.'  
  
'Isn't Dumbledore coming?' Harry asked, sitting up even straighter.  
  
'Not at the minute,' Madam Pomfrey replied, walking over and softly pushing Harry back down again.  
  
'We'll be in the common room,' Ron said. 'So is everyone else, come to think of it.'  
  
'Get some rest,' Hermione added. 'We'll see you later, and Ginny too, if she wakes up.' Standing up, she walked out, grasping Ron's hand as he joined her. With a last look back, they walked off.  
  
'Can I have a word quickly, Madam Pomfrey?' Fred asked suddenly, walking off towards her office in the corner of the wing. Following him, she turned around to see George still standing by Harry's bed, a picture of innocence, shaking her head she went into the office to talk to Fred.  
  
'Well that's got rid of her,' George said, his mood light but his face still serious. Sitting down on the edge of Harry's bed he looked him in the eye before speaking again. 'As oldest Weasley present, by a matter of two seconds or so,' he began, but then a grin broke out over his face and he stopped. 'I'm beginning to sound like Percy,' he chortled.  
  
'In all seriousness though, me and Fred just want to say thanks Harry. We didn't really get a chance after the whole Chamber of Secrets thing. Of course that was our fault, you can't blame us for going after Percy though, can you?'  
  
'Not really,' said Harry, biting back a chuckle as he remembered Fred dropping his books on George's head when Ginny had let them know about Percy and Penelope.  
  
'You didn't have to go after Ginny either of those times, but you did, while we just sat around or were too busy not noticing,' George continued, only for Harry to interrupt him.  
  
'That's not true, George,' he said. 'If me and Ron had told you two, you would have been down in the chamber before us. In fact, you'd have probably turned that snake into a belt before we'd got to you, and who knows what you would have done to the Basilisk.' George grinned at the joke and Harry continued, a smile on his face as well. 'And I did have to go after Ginny, I'd go after any of you - you're the closest thing I've got to a real family, you know.'  
  
'Well, we didn't want to brag,' George replied, the grin spreading back over his face. Before he could say anything else Fred and Madam Pomfrey emerged from the office once more, Fred winking obviously at George who nodded back at him. 'See you later,' he said to Harry, then rose and walked out with his twin, the two of them bending their heads in conference the second they were out of the nurse's earshot.  
  
'I recommend you grab some sleep now Harry,' Madam Pomfrey said, 'I hear they're waiting for your return to celebrate winning the Quidditch Cup again.' Nodding to her and himself Harry let himself fall back on the pillows again, he was quite drained of energy after talking so much. Twisting his head on the pillows, the last thing he saw before sleep overtook him was Ginny's slumbering form, sleeping peacefully on the bed beside his.  
  
* * *  
  
Harry stirred as he felt a soft light fall onto his face, opening his eyes sleepily he made out a long silver beard and blurred golden glasses. 'I did not mean to wake you, Harry,' Dumbledore spoke quietly, 'I only wished to see if your wound was tended to.'  
  
'I feel better,' Harry said quietly in the soft light of Dumbledore's wand, 'my shoulder still aches.'  
  
'I can imagine it would,' Dumbledore replied, the wand light twinkling softly in his eyes, 'wounds take time to mend. It may appear healed on the surface, but it's what lies beneath that can often be the true wound.'  
  
Harry nodded to himself, but before he could say anything else to the headmaster Dumbledore's hand passed over his face, 'Sleep.'  
  
Yawning uncontrollably, Harry felt his eyelids drop shut, and within a few seconds he was sleeping again. Standing there, Dumbledore could feel a part of himself in an outcry at sending Harry back to sleep unwillingly, but like so many other things, it needed to be done.  
  
'That was unfair, Albus,' a voice croaked in the darkness.  
  
'I won't deny that, Julian,' Dumbledore replied, drawing back the curtain softly as he walked to the side of the man's bed. 'Are you still in pain?'  
  
'I'm beyond that now, Albus, it's just a matter of time.everything is a matter of time.' Drawing a deep breath, Kilmorie smiled in the light, the new scar on his face twisting into an ugly pattern.  
  
'We could -' Dumbledore began.  
  
'No, Albus, I will not take the coward's way out.'  
  
'You yourself said retreating was not the coward's option,' Dumbledore replied, his eyes holding with Kilmorie's.  
  
'The time for retreating is over, my friend,' Kilmorie said, his voice strengthening suddenly, 'I will not hide from death, for I could never defeat that.'  
  
'Minerva.she will want to speak with you.'  
  
'I have to speak with her as well, it has been too long - but that can wait until morning.Albus, I.this is my time, Poppy should not have to concern herself so...' Dumbledore nodded, and with a gesture of patience to Kilmorie he left, heading to the office in the corner.  
  
Walking into the office, Dumbledore found Madam Pomfrey still awake, reading through a book of incantations and medicines. She looked up and offered him a forlorn smile as he extinguished his wand and sat down at her desk. 'I would stop looking, Poppy,' he said sadly, the candlelight casting delicate shadows over his face, 'Julian does not wish us to worry any more.'  
  
Sending a piercing gaze that rivalled Dumbledore's own, the nurse then continued reading into the book, 'I wouldn't call myself a nurse if I gave up on my patients.'  
  
Nodding to himself, Dumbledore rose, intending to go and speak with Kilmorie once more. At the door to the office he paused and turned to face the nurse once more. 'Poppy, I do not wish for you to aid Julian beyond his wishes.'  
  
'And I will not, Albus, I cannot hope to repair the damage that demon did - but if I can ease Julian's pain then I must.'  
  
* * *  
  
Harry awoke as the sun broke through the windows of the hospital wing, its rays bathing his face in warmth and light. Sitting upright he was aware only of the slow breathing of the others in the wing. Reaching for his glasses he pulled them on. Directly opposite him he saw that the curtains around Kilmorie's bed were still open, and glancing to his right he saw Madam Pomfrey leaning over her desk, sleeping quietly.  
  
Moving as quietly as possible, Harry climbed out of bed and stepped silently over to Kilmorie's bed, slowly pulling the curtains back after he arrived. Turning back, he almost yelled in fright when he found Kilmorie's eyes open and staring at him. 'Morning, Harry,' he whispered, his face creasing in pain as he took in a quiet breath.  
  
Harry tried to reply but found his voice trapped in his throat, his eyes blinked as he unwittingly thought back to Kilmorie's meeting with Snape. 'Not a pretty sight I should imagine?' Kilmorie croaked, then let a little laugh out. 'I'm glad you're here, I need to talk with you about a few things, before anyone else can try.'  
  
Opening his mouth to reply, Harry saw a glint in Kilmorie's eye, the orange fire that burned there provoking him into silence once more. 'I'm not entirely sure what happened out there,' Kilmorie began, 'but I think I can figure out some of it. But that's for Dumbledore to know about, not you. Don't take it as an insult, Harry,' he said quickly, 'I just don't think now is the time for you to hear such things. Albus will know when, he always knows when,' Kilmorie added the last part with a smile.  
  
'I've been watching you for most of the year,' he continued, 'under instructions from.higher powers, let me call them. I have some things I would like you to consider - your friends for one. This year, I watched as you grew apart at times, but to my relief you came together once more quickly enough. But, Harry, just for such a short time could leave you alone - never let it happen again. To be alone in this world can be a hard journey.'  
  
Harry nodded absently, his ears listening but his eyes focused on Kilmorie's, even as the wizard spoke Harry was sure the fire was fading. 'I'm not going yet, Harry, not without saying goodbye to those I have hurt.' Harry blinked at Kilmorie's reading of his thoughts. 'And while I can appreciate that I'm dying, Harry, I don't expect you to do so. I am dying happy, and it's largely down to you.  
  
'And before you say anything, I don't want you to feel responsible - no matter the outcome, my time was running out.' Kilmorie held Harry's gaze before nodding, certain that the boy had taken everything in. 'Two more things,' he said, quickly compared to before, 'first is in the drawer of the cabinet - look inside.'  
  
Opening the drawer Harry found some of Kilmorie's possessions, 'The knife, Harry, get me the knife.' Taking it out of the drawer, Harry handed it to the wizard, noticing that holding the weapon seemed to calm the man slightly. 'This is the one that I'd like to think saved you,' Kilmorie said, an almost wistful smile on his face, 'and I'm trusting it to do so again - take it. The rest must go to Jenks.'  
  
'But Jenks - we saw him.' Harry began, but Kilmorie interrupted him with a wave of his hand.  
  
'Unless that's Ginny or Poppy snoring, you're very much mistaken about Jenks dying, I wouldn't trust him to anyway, he always has ways of annoying me.' Listening Harry could hear a soft snoring that didn't sound like Ginny or Madam Pomfrey. 'Tell him they're to be put in Arthur's Island, he'll know where I mean.' Shifting suddenly Kilmorie sat up, pressing the knife and its sheath into Harry's hand as he did so.  
  
'The last thing I wish to talk to you about is Ginny.' Seeing Harry's face redden slightly Kilmorie smiled warmly, and Harry was put in mind of Sirius for a minute. 'And that,' Kilmorie continued with a nod at Harry's reddening face, 'is why I want to talk to you about Ginny. I heard your little talk with the Weasley twin, can't for the life of me work out which is which, you know.'  
  
'You both missed one point - which is that Ginny came back after you. If she hadn't returned then that Cambirer would have killed us both, disappeared, and Voldemort would have won. Now I've heard about your adventures from Minerva, Hagrid - any teacher.except for Snape,' he added the last part with an amused twitch of his eyebrows, followed by a sharp exhalation of breath.  
  
Coughing harshly, he did not notice the trickle of blood that crept out around his mouth until he found Harry staring at him again. Wiping it away, Kilmorie continued, his voice firm, but trembling slightly in pauses, 'Every time you've confronted someone, or something, you've been alone, or you've sent your friends away. Don't do that again, unless there's no other choice, retreat to draw your enemies away from your friends - but never separate yourself from them.'  
  
'I.I don't try to separate myself,' Harry replied, 'something always gets in the way.'  
  
'Then retreat - it's not the coward's option, draw the enemy away from them and you. You care for all your friends, Ginny especially, I don't want you to lose them the way I've lost some of my own friends. Only a fool would think that retreating is the coward's option - remember that for me.' Coughing once more, he grabbed hold of Harry as he made to leave to get Madam Pomfrey.  
  
'Just a minute - you remember what I said, about Ginny coming after you, as you went after her? - show me your Liefgema.' Using his other hand, Harry tried to ignore Kilmorie's painful grip as he fished out the gem, then passed it to the professor. 'Ginny worked this out, she told you it was all about emotions - but she was only half right.'  
  
Taking a deep breath, Kilmorie continued, holding the gem and Harry's eyes in his own. 'For a Liefgema to work you must have a deep emotional bond with the person you share it with, if you ever do. Ginny can read your emotions, and you hers - through each others Liefgema.'  
  
'But - why Ginny? And why me?' Harry asked, his voice wavering.  
  
'I think you know,' Kilmorie replied. 'When she came back it was because of her feelings for you, and also because of your feelings for her. There's something between the two of you, something that you don't share with Hermione, Ron, or any of the others.'  
  
'What do you mean?' Harry muttered, looking away from Kilmorie.  
  
'She loves you, Harry, and don't tell me you don't feel the same for her.' Grasping Harry's wrist again Kilmorie put the gem back into his hand. 'Don't turn away from your heart, Harry, just give it time.' Before Harry could say anything Kilmorie spoke again. 'Harry, please get Madam Pomfrey, tell her I need to see Minerva - quickly.'  
  
Ignoring the sudden feelings that had arisen inside him, Harry ran to Madam Pomfrey's office as he heard Kilmorie let out a gasp of pain. Waking her quickly he didn't even need to say anything before she was up and running to the wizard's side. 'Harry, go and get Professor McGonagall - she'll be in the staff room - quickly!'  
  
'No need, Poppy,' McGonagall replied as she came walking into the ward swiftly, 'Can we have some time, please?' Nodding respectfully, Madam Pomfrey walked away from the bed, letting McGonagall sit down on a stool beside Kilmorie. With a flick of her wand she closed the curtains around the bed once more, leaving Harry watching the rippled material before Madam Pomfrey slowly ushered him back to his bed.  
  
* * *  
  
Sitting opposite the curtained bed, Harry could hear muffled words, a couple higher then others, but couldn't make out anything in particular. After what seemed like hours, there was a gentle clink of metal sliding along metal as the curtains drew back and Professor McGonagall stepped out. In her hand she clutched two objects hanging from chains, from a distance Harry could just make out two tear-shaped gems.  
  
Sensing his gaze, she opened her mouth to say something, but instead stopped and walked silently from the ward, leaving Harry to stare back at Kilmorie. Lying in his bed, the old wizard was staring up at the ceiling, his face relaxed, and the orange fire in his eyes had finally dimmed. Hearing McGonagall's footsteps, Madam Pomfrey emerged from her office, seeing Kilmorie she walked over quickly, drawing the curtains closed again.  
  
Walking back over to Harry, she took a few deep breaths before speaking. 'You can leave when you want to, Harry, and Ginny can go with you as well - wake her or wait for her, take as much time as you need.' Harry nodded silently in reply, determined not to let the sadness he felt in his heart show in his face.  
  
As Madam Pomfrey walked back into her office, Ginny suddenly stirred, clutching her neck where the Liefgema she wore leant against it. 'Harry?' she whispered urgently, then sat up and turned to see him still staring at Kilmorie's curtained bed. Slowly falling down his cheek was a single tear leaving a glistening path that sparkled in the early morning light. Hearing her voice he turned and a small smile appeared on his face as he wiped the tear away quickly.  
  
'You ready to go?' he asked hurriedly, startling Ginny into nodding. Getting out of bed once more, he took her hand, leading her past Kilmorie's bed, and the other bed whose sheets covered a slumbering and snoring form.  
  
Arriving in the hallway Ginny pulled her hand loose, 'What are you doing, Harry? What's going on?' she asked, her voice not snappy, but not friendly either.  
  
'I just didn't want to stay,' Harry replied quietly, 'sorry - I.I just wanted to get out.'  
  
'Don't be,' she whispered softly, then put a hand up to wipe away the rest of the tearstain, 'I know you're trying to protect me - you always are.' Smiling up at him she took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. 'You saved my life again, thank you.' Then she stood on her toes and planted a quick kiss on his cheek and turned to walk away.  
  
'You saved mine too,' Harry blurted suddenly, then flushed red as Ginny turned back. Grinning nervously he continued as she looked into his eyes. 'Back in the forest - if you hadn't come back, I'd be dead as well.as well as Kilmorie.'  
  
Nodding sadly Ginny took a second before replying, 'I came back because you needed me.'  
  
Stepping forward suddenly, Harry took a hold of his Liefgema where it hung around her neck, holding it gently against her skin so she feel the warmth from within it. 'I still need you,' he whispered softly to her, leaning forward so she could hear the quiet murmur. Pulling back she looked up at him, deep into his eyes, then with a trembling hand Ginny reached up and pushed the gem that hung around Harry's neck into him, infusing his soul with the same warmth.  
  
Ginny didn't even need to ask Harry if he'd meant the words, just as he didn't need to hear her say the same thing. Leaning in slowly, Harry felt Ginny slip her arms around his neck as their lips met, brushing softly together as he closed his eyes.  
  
When they slowly pulled apart it felt to Harry as if no time and yet an age had passed in just those few seconds. Standing there, entwined gently in each others arms, Harry felt as if his whole world had been destroyed and created. Everything he'd known was now in the past, and in the future there was no longer cold uncertainty.  
  
In the silence, Ginny saw something flicker into Harry's eyes suddenly causing him to blink rapidly, 'What's wrong?' she asked, a smile spreading over her face. Harry looked back down, his eyes showing worry temporarily, only for it to be washed aside as he caught her smile.  
  
'I just realised that Ron's going to kill me,' he said, leaning forward with another smile, 'and that I don't care a bit.' 


	25. Chapter Twenty Four

Chapter 24: Beyond the Silence  
  
Walking side by side, Harry gave Ginny's hand a reassuring squeeze as they neared the Fat Lady, already he could hear shouting and a few explosions on the other side. Smiling up at him there was a sparkle in Ginny's eyes as she spoke. 'Why the need to reassure me, Harry? - It's you my brothers will go after.'  
  
'You're right, let's just go to breakfast now,' he replied, turning and walking in the opposite direction, only for Ginny to spin him around so that he was facing the Fat Lady again. 'Well,' he said, glancing at Ginny, 'which one of us is telling them?'  
  
'For now?' Ginny asked, her face suddenly the picture of innocence. 'Neither of us,' she said, her eyes lighting up with delight, 'if you think you can keep a secret.'  
  
Laughing back at her Harry planted a kiss on her cheek, then turned back to the Fat Lady who was watching the both of them with a funny expression on her face. 'I hope you can keep a secret as well,' he said.  
  
Sticking her nose up as Ginny began to giggle, the Fat Lady sniffed haughtily at Harry. 'It's not me who's the gossip young Potter, Violet's the one you want to watch out for. Password?'  
  
'We won,' Harry and Ginny said simultaneously, fighting back a laugh as the Fat Lady continued to snub Harry as the portrait swung back. As they climbed into the tunnel a wave of noise swept over Harry and Ginny, then a firework flew past that continued on screaming down the hallway. Climbing down into the common room, they emerged into a sea of red and gold that literally exploded into cheering.  
  
If Harry had thought the party when they'd won the Quidditch Cup previously was loud, it was nothing compared to the noise the Gryffindors were making now. No sooner had his feet touched the floor than Harry suddenly found himself hoisted by Seamus and Lee, both of them cheering like maniacs as they started to work their way through the mob.  
  
Turning back to Ginny, Harry could only smile with an amused expression, shrugging her shoulders in reply Ginny smiled back, then went to join the others who were sitting around the fireplace. 'How are you feeling?' Hermione asked, leaning forward to be heard over the noise as Ginny sat down in one of the chairs.  
  
'Okay, I guess,' Ginny replied, turning to watch Harry as he was passed on to another pair of shoulders, 'all things considered,' she added, making sure they couldn't see her smile. Turning back to them she was in time to see an awkward look pass between Fred and George. 'What's wrong?' she asked, eventually pinning George with her stare.  
  
'We were just wondering.Kilmorie?' he asked eventually.  
  
Suddenly remembering, Ginny turned to look at Harry again. 'I.I think he's dead,' she whispered, 'Harry took me out of the room before I could look around.' Looking back she saw Hermione bite her lip and grasp Ron's hand, while George and Fred just nodded slowly.  
  
'What happened out there?' Fred asked, finally ending their silence in the noisy room.  
  
'I don't know,' Ginny replied, 'but I won't forget it.'  
  
* * *  
  
To Harry and Ginny, the time before exam results and the last day of school seemed to fly by, while Hermione grew more frantic for every day of waiting. 'You do realise that you've passed everything with at least one- hundred percent again?' Ron would say every day, earning a small smile from Hermione, but nothing seemed to entirely convince her.  
  
Walking down to breakfast with Ginny, Harry rolled his eyes as Ron's voice echoed along the corridor, the words '.red percent again?' sounding clearly through the air.  
  
'How do you think you did?' Harry asked Ginny, giving her hand a little squeeze as they approached the Entrance Hall.  
  
'Well enough,' she replied, an impish grin on her face, 'anyway, you should be the one worried about it - you have to decide what N.E.W.T.s you're going to take.'  
  
'Is there an Advanced Weasley Studies do you think?' he asked. 'The one that teaches you how to date your best friend's little sister without him killing you?'  
  
'Not to mention the other five older brothers,' she added mischievously. Before they entered the hall she pulled Harry aside, into the shadows of a suit of armour. 'We're going to have to tell them sometime,' she whispered, her face now more serious.  
  
'I know,' Harry replied, brushing a stray strand of hair from her face. 'Besides, I'm pretty sure I could take the others before Bill or Charlie got to me.' Giggling to herself, Ginny reached up a hand to stroke Harry's face, then drew him into a kiss that filled him with fire. Breaking apart after a few seconds, Harry nodded to the Entrance Hall, smiling down at Ginny as she leant back with her arms around his neck.  
  
Emerging into the hall they found that Ron and Hermione had moved on, and looking ahead through the doors he caught a glimpse of Ron's bright hair on the Gryffindor table. Giving Ginny's hand a last squeeze, he led the way into the Great Hall, threading past the other students until they found spaces by their friends.  
  
Stepping out of the shadows of the staircase, Draco stared after them, his eyes picking out the four of them as they began eating breakfast. He stood there for a few minutes, gazing calmly, his own pale face seemingly darker than the shadows of the hall. Eventually as other students began leaving breakfast he walked away, but not before a cold smile had spread itself over his face.  
  
* * *  
  
'If Hermione doesn't get to the front soon, it'll start getting messy,' Ron predicted, watching as she fidgeted her way towards the list of O.W.L. results that had been posted.  
  
'Shouldn't you be the one bravely fighting through the crowd for her?' Ginny asked, giggling to herself as Hermione more or less growled at someone standing beside her.  
  
'You think I could stop her when she saw that piece of parchment?' Ron asked incredulously, then he began smiling to himself as Hermione eventually reached the front. Harry joined them as Hermione arrived back, practically throwing herself into Ron's arms as she hugged him. Whether it was her hugging him in public, or the lack of air, Ron turned a bright red before hugging her back until Hermione released her hold on him.  
  
'Let me guess,' Harry put in before either of them could say a word, a grin spreading across his face. 'One hundred percent on everything?'  
  
Taking a swipe at him, Hermione could only nod happily before turning to Ron. 'You passed too,' she burst out excitedly. Ron's happy face suddenly went decidedly sour, so sour that Ginny couldn't help but burst out laughing at her brother. 'What's wrong?' Hermione asked, her mood now dampened slightly.  
  
'It sounds like you expected me to fail something,' Ron replied grumpily, putting Ginny into further fits of laughter and making a grin appear on Harry's face.  
  
'Ooooh, you're just so infuriating!' Hermione replied, and before Ron could do a thing about it she put her hands on his cheeks and kissed him. All around them the students either burst out whistling and cheering or went slack-jawed. Looking out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see Fred and George's faces light up with glee at the prospect of another brother to torture.  
  
Eventually Hermione pulled back, her face now as bright red as Ron's, but a warm smile aimed directly at him. Giving them a couple of minutes, Harry turned to Ginny who was watching her brother and friend, smiling at the both of them. 'So how did you do?' he asked.  
  
'Passed everything,' she said simply, 'even if Snape didn't want me to do Potions again - he's got me.'  
  
'Poor soul,' Harry said in mock despair, taking the jab from Ginny as he grinned.  
  
'It's not like I get to choose yet,' she replied. 'How did you do with him?' she continued, grinning back at Harry.  
  
'Well, I haven't looked yet,' he replied using the same tone of voice, laughing at how ridiculous he sounded. 'I was going to wait until there was less of a crowd around, but if you insist I go now.' Adding the last bit he began walking to the line, but was stopped by Dumbledore who had appeared almost out of nowhere, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder.  
  
'A word, Harry?' he asked quietly, even though it was not so much a request as an instruction. Nodding to the headmaster, Harry turned with a shrug to Ginny, then followed the old wizard up the stairs. Watching Harry go, Ginny felt his Liefgema cool and heat against her skin as conflicting emotions poured through him.  
  
* * *  
  
'I'm sorry to take you away from your friends at such a time,' Dumbledore said to Harry as they walked alone down the corridor to his office. 'I just needed to speak with you. I'm sure you know why.' Harry simply nodded in reply, he'd expected Dumbledore to ask him sooner in all honesty. Arriving at the gargoyle, they waited together as it hopped aside, then both stepped through onto the ascending staircase.  
  
Walking through the door into his office Harry was surprised to find Professor McGonagall sitting at one of the other chairs. Leaning against a wall to the side was Sirius, who stood up and walked over to Harry, embracing him as he entered the office. 'Sorry I wasn't there,' he said, 'I got back as fast as I could.'  
  
'If it is anyone's fault you were away it is my own, Sirius,' Dumbledore said, sitting behind his desk and gesturing for Harry and Sirius to sit beside McGonagall. 'I don't have much to say Harry, but as always I feel it better for you to know the truth about what has happened.' At this point he looked at Sirius, then to McGonagall. 'Particularly concerning some of this year's events.'  
  
'Sirius is here because you both believe that Professor Snape was somehow involved with the Cambirer's attacks on Harry and his friends. Once again, I can only say that I do not believe this to be so. Severus's meeting with Julian was indeed that, and not with the Cambirer in disguise as you believed Harry, you overheard Julian worrying about his ability to protect you.'  
  
Sighing, Dumbledore leant forward, his piercing gaze falling on them both. 'As I said, I cannot persuade either of you to trust Severus if it is beyond you. All I ask is that you continue to treat him as you normally would. Although slightly more respectfully on your part, Harry, Potions is still an important lesson.' He added the last part with his eyes looking over the top of their glasses, and Harry saw the twinkle of humour long associated with his headmaster. 'You can leave now, Sirius,' Dumbledore said with a nod toward him, 'we will make time for you to see Harry before he goes home, though.'  
  
Giving Harry a reassuring clasp on his shoulder once more, Sirius nodded to the two professors, then left the office silently. 'The reason Professor McGonagall is here may not be so obvious to you Harry,' Dumbledore continued. 'Unless you can surprise me?'  
  
Thinking back, Harry remembered the Liefgemas that he had seen McGonagall carrying from the hospital wing.what had Kilmorie said - For a Liefgema to work you must have a deep emotional bond with the person you share it with.Looking at Professor McGonagall he could almost see the truth, until it suddenly leapt out at him. 'Brother? Professor Kilmorie was your brother?'  
  
'He was, Harry,' Dumbledore confirmed, reaching across the table and lifting two gems that Harry hadn't noticed. As he held them Harry felt his own Liefgema for reassurance, warmth still emanated from the stone - but the other two were lifeless and grey. 'During the Voldemort's first rise Julian left to fight his own way, some of us took it unfavourably - Hagrid may have told you something along these lines?'  
  
Harry could only nod in silence before his mind caught up with him. 'Hagrid said.said that Professor Kilmorie betrayed you?'  
  
Clearing her throat Professor McGonagall spoke for the first time. 'A slight over-exaggeration by Hagrid, I suspect,' she said, her voice slightly strained. 'Julian may have left, but he would never have turned against us - but to leave at such a time.I felt betrayed.' Breathing deeply, 'I never truly figured out why he left, not until now - and it's too late now.'  
  
'What about your names, though?' Harry asked, then fell into silence as if he'd overstepped himself.  
  
'That is a question for me,' Dumbledore replied. 'When Julian left he went away to a place he called 'The Island', I know of only a few other wizards who have ever heard of the place - and they will not tell me its real name, even they may not know.' He added the last part with a smile that seemed both tired, but also excited at the thought of something unknown. 'All I know is that those who have been there changed their names, to protect their loved ones I believe.'  
  
'You see Harry, any wizard or witch who goes to this place comes back trained to fight against the worst kinds of evil. Some are trained in magical arts beyond an Auror's skill, others, such as Julian, learned to use ancient Muggle weapons for defence and attack.' Leaning back in his chair he stared deeply into Harry's eyes before continuing. 'Prior to them changing their names, there was often a terrible backlash on the families of such wizards, and so it became the next logical step.'  
  
'Now only a few of them remain, most keeping their skills unknown - Julian only ever told a few of us, again I believe to protect us.' Standing up, Dumbledore walked around the desk to Harry. 'But this is all beyond your concern now, Harry, Julian died knowing he'd fulfilled his role to the full - saving the lives of two innocents. Unless you have no more questions, you can go.'  
  
Nodding to Dumbledore he rose silently and went to the door, pausing as he was about to go through it. 'Is Jenks one of them as well?' he asked, receiving a simple nod from Dumbledore in reply.  
  
'I passed Kilmorie's message onto him,' Dumbledore added as Harry began to leave once more, 'there is no need for you to see him - save you wish to.' Nodding to himself once more, Harry stood on the steps and prepared to descend out of sight when something else sprung to mind.  
  
'Professor.what happened out there? That night?' he asked, braving Dumbledore's piercing stare to look for any clue in the wizard's eyes.  
  
'I still do not know, Harry,' Dumbledore replied, and Harry saw the honesty in his eyes. 'But, I am beginning to see things more clearly with each day. I suggest you return to celebrate with your friends now.' He added the suggestion quietly, but it compelled Harry to leave even more quickly by being so.  
  
* * *  
  
Walking out of the bottom of the stairs, Harry emerged in the corridor, his thoughts focused on what he had been told. He was so focused that he walked into the only other person in the corridor and sent them sprawling on the floor. 'Sorry,' Harry mumbled, helping to lift the wizard, some part of his mind trying to recognise the man.  
  
'No problem, Harry,' they replied, and Harry saw a feral grin as he looked up in shock. 'I haven't walked on two legs for a long time.' Looking at the man's face Harry saw green eyes that pierced his own, the man's hair was pure white and the same short length all over.  
  
For a minute Harry couldn't speak and the man's grin widened. 'Jenks?'  
  
'Got it in one,' Jenks replied. 'Amazing what Poppy can do, isn't it?'  
  
'But.but you're meant to be stuck as a cat aren't you?' Harry asked, his eyes travelling over Jenks as the ex-cat leant against a wall nonchalantly.  
  
'Kind of good to know Hermione isn't always right, isn't it?' he asked, a wry grin on his face. 'Don't ask me how but Poppy is an absolute miracle worker.' Pulling up a corner of the shirt he wore, Harry saw a wicked scar that stretched across Jenks's stomach. 'Took what ever that demon did and reversed it a treat. Then it was just a matter of mixing up a Varianus Draft while I was unconscious.'  
  
'So you're human? Fully changed?'  
  
'Fully changed, I still want to lick my.face clean occasionally though.' He added the last part with an eyebrow raised slightly and Harry couldn't help but laugh. 'How are you doing though?' he asked suddenly, standing up against the wall, his eyes piercing Harry once more.  
  
'I...I don't really know,' Harry said at last. 'Everything's just happened so fast.'  
  
'That's they way it always goes,' Jenks replied, shifting his stance against the wall. 'Trust me on this, things are about to start moving very fast.' For a second the wizard's face seemed to age suddenly, and Harry was reminded of Dumbledore, but just as quickly it was gone. 'I came to find you because I'm leaving, I just wanted to say goodbye. Julian asked me to do a few things for him so I need to go.'  
  
Standing up again he reached into his cloak's pocket and pulled out the knife that Julian had given to Harry in the hospital wing. 'He noticed you left this.' Jenks trailed off, leaving the unanswered question hanging in the air. Before Harry could form a reply Jenks stepped forwards and pushed the sheathed blade into Harry's hand. 'I know it feels wrong, Harry, but sometimes you need to use unorthodox methods of defence.and attack.  
  
'Julian felt the same way, when he was given this dagger - but he took it, and he used it - you've seen how yourself. He told me it needed to pass from one protector to another, and also that I couldn't have both this and his sword.' He added the last part light-heartedly, and Harry felt a smile tugging at his lips. 'You don't have to use this Harry,' Jenks continued, 'but Julian wanted it to go to you. I have to respect his wishes.'  
  
'I will too,' Harry whispered in reply. Holding the sheath firmly he drew the handle upward slightly, revealing the smooth blade. Harry stared at his reflection, mildly surprised as he caught the look in his own eyes. Looking back up at Jenks he saw the wizard studying him, trying to figure out what Harry was thinking. Pushing the blade back into the sheath he put it into his belt.  
  
'It was nice to have met you, Harry.' Jenks said, extending a hand. Nodding back Harry clasped the hand, shaking it warmly. 'We'll meet again,' the other wizard continued, 'it won't be soon, but we will meet again.'  
  
'I'll look forward to it,' Harry replied honestly, the smile now blossoming on his face.  
  
For a second Jenks's face froze before he replied, then a similar grin appeared on it. 'You and me both, Harry, you and me both.' With a final wave of his fingers, Jenks began walking away down the corridor, and turning down another hallway he disappeared. Harry turned to head back to Gryffindor tower, but spun around when he heard a loud hissing. Amidst a chuckle of laughter echoing from around the corner, he saw Mrs. Norris fly away from the path Jenks took, her hair standing on end.  
  
* * *  
  
'Hey.' A soft voice brought Harry out of his reverie as he walked back to the tower. Ginny stepped out from the shadowed alcove where she had been waiting, distractedly putting a hand to Harry's cheek as he stopped before her.  
  
'Hey yourself,' he replied, taking her hand and kissing the palm gently. Lifting his hand to her cheek, Harry let his fingers push aside a strand of hair that had fallen over her face. 'Anything wrong?'  
  
'No. I was just waiting for you, in case you needed to talk.'  
  
'I'm done with talking,' Harry replied with a smile, and then he leant in to kiss her softly on the lips.  
  
'Fine by me,' Ginny said, a smile blossoming on her face as well before she leant into the kiss as well. Pulling away after a few seconds she put a finger to his lips before he could speak again. 'I suppose for that I could tell you the news.'  
  
'News?' Harry asked, encircling her in his arms so she could lean back, her hair shining in the candlelight of the hall.  
  
Rolling her eyes theatrically Ginny sighed before speaking. 'Your results? You can't have forgotten them already?' Grinning back at her Harry didn't even bother replying, but instead kissed her once more. 'I suppose that means I should definitely tell you the news?' Ginny asked, grinning back at him as he continued to stare deeply into her eyes.  
  
'I can wait if you can,' he whispered back to her, but before Ginny could reply to him the corridor suddenly started echoing with cheers and shouts. Looking up from Ginny's face, Harry saw the rest of the Gryffindors returning from getting their results, and without thinking he pulled Ginny into a quick hug.  
  
'Something to celebrate?' Hermione asked as she and Ron stopped by them, letting everyone else walk by.  
  
'Ginny gave me my results,' Harry replied. 'Passed everything,' he continued with a smile.  
  
'We've still got a while until dinner - Exploding Snap?' Ron suggested, and with a nod from everyone started walking back to the tower. Reaching the crowded portrait hole, Harry let Ron and Hermione in ahead before pulling Ginny back gently.  
  
'I did pass everything, didn't I?' he asked, a nervous expression on his face. 


	26. Chapter Twenty Five

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Beginning  
  
Ron was the first person to notice Kilmorie's dagger, hidden away inside a discreet sheath that hung from Harry's belt, it had slipped out from under his robes as they sat down at dinner. 'What the hell are you doing with that?' he whispered urgently, grabbing Harry's arm as he tried to cover the dagger.  
  
'Kilmorie gave it to me,' Harry replied, pulling his robe back over his belt before Hermione or Ginny could glimpse it. 'I didn't have a chance to put it away,' he whispered urgently, 'and I'd prefer not to have anyone else find out.'  
  
Ron was about to say something back when Dumbledore rose, and a hush descended over the entire hall. His eyes twinkling, Dumbledore clapped his hands, lifting them up towards the banners that hung over the hall. With a rustling of cloth the black banners that had hung there all year exploded into gold and scarlet, the Gryffindor lion standing proudly overhead.  
  
A massive cheer went up from the Gryffindor table, and Harry and Ron found themselves shouting as loudly as anyone else. There were roars of laughter followed shortly afterwards as Fred and George climbed onto the table and linked arms, dancing around the empty plates and bowls. As soon as Fred and George stopped dancing on the table, Dumbledore was able to begin speaking again.  
  
'I'm sure you'll all be pleased to hear that Fred and George will be returning next year to teach Muggle Dance Studies.' Once more there was a roar of laughter, and Dumbledore's sparkling eyes radiated a humour that spread throughout the entire hall. Coughing solemnly he brought at sudden silence down upon the Great Hall, the humour lost as the headmaster raised his arms, signalling to the black drapes that once more adorned the room.  
  
'Last year a student was lost to us,' Dumbledore began, his gaze passing everyone over the hall in turn, lingering on the Hufflepuff table a moment longer then the others. 'Gathered here now it gives me great heart to see we are all still together and I am sure that Cedric Diggory feels the same, wherever he is now. I told you last year we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided - that many of you might be forced to choose between what is right, and what is easy.  
  
'I am privileged to be with you all, to know that you have chosen what is right and to know I am in the company of many others who are as strong, as kind and as brave as Cedric was.' As if the previous year had been the day before, Harry took a look over his shoulder as Dumbledore spoke these words. Sure enough, Malfoy and several others were muttering among themselves on the Slytherin table, and he felt the same anger rise up in him before Dumbledore's voice called him back again.  
  
'This year we must remember another of our friends lost to us, a wizard also a professor to you all this year. The wizard I refer to is Julian Kilmorie. His loss will come as a surprise to most of you, and it is my regret to inform you of his death. Professor Kilmorie passed away the day after the Quidditch final of this year, he passed away in defence of what is right and for that I honour him.'  
  
Lifting his goblet he raised it to the ceiling, with a scraping of wood Harry rose holding his own goblet, followed by Ginny and Ron, then Hermione and the twins before students rose throughout the hall. Taking another look over his shoulder Harry was surprised to see several Slytherin students standing, though Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle remained seated.  
  
'Even though I have spent most of my life in this school I still learn new things,' Dumbledore continued. 'This year has taught me the value of what we have here, about the strong bonds of friendship and trust that run deep in this school and will forever remain true to whomever should have need of them.'  
  
Putting down his goblet Dumbledore lifted his arms once more and the black banners twisted in a breeze until they all settled down, the Hogwarts emblem proudly showing on each one. Holding his arms towards the students Dumbledore looked over them all once more before addressing them. 'This summer I once more ask you to remember something for me. Remember the friendship and trust that I have mentioned, remember what you have learnt in your time here and remember that in coming times of darkness that you are our hope.'  
  
* * *  
  
Harry sat on top of the hill that overlooked the lake, Ginny sitting beside him with her head resting on his shoulder. As the sun began its slow descent the light on the lake began to soften, turning a deep red that warmed the evening. A soft padding sound rang out and Harry caught the glint of sunlight on a unicorn's coat as it galloped along the edge of the forest before disappearing into its midst.  
  
'Packed already?' a voice asked softly in the peaceful silence, startling Harry and causing Ginny to jump against him. Turning round Harry saw Sirius standing there wearing a familiar grin before he pulled his robes about him and sat down on the ground.  
  
'Should you be out?' Harry asked, ignoring the jibe from Sirius and casting a glance around him as Ginny settled back down against his shoulder.  
  
'No one else is around, and no one else is likely to be around given the amount of noise coming from your common room.' Sirius paused for a second before continuing, 'why aren't you two up there?'  
  
Ginny giggled and replied before Harry could, 'Because we're not a 'two' when we are up there.'  
  
'Big brothers don't know yet?' Sirius asked, his grin widening to a smirk as he glanced back at Harry who was now studiously gazing at the grass on the slope. 'I heard Dumbledore's address, nice to see he hasn't changed tack this year.'  
  
'Scaring a whole new year,' Harry mumbled under his breath, but he looked up when Sirius's head turned around sharply.  
  
'What makes you say that?'  
  
'Because it's not them Voldemort's after,' Harry replied, feeling Ginny flinch against his shoulder when he said the name. Giving her shoulder a squeeze of reassurance Harry continued talking to Sirius as he stared out over the lake. 'So far Voldemort has come after me, specifically me and Ginny - but always to harm me in some way.'  
  
'So you think everyone else is safe?' Sirius began, nodding to himself as Harry nodded in answer to the question. 'Listen to me, both of you, when I say this - no one is safe. Voldemort may only have struck out at you now, Harry, but that will change, pretty soon he'll be everywhere and striking out against everyone.anyone.'  
  
Standing up Sirius put his hand on Harry's shoulder, giving it a small squeeze before turning to walk away. 'I'll try and contact you soon, keep Hedwig free if you can,' he added with a smile towards Ginny. 'Remember what I've said as well, Harry, this year.this year was just the beginning.' With a smile to them both Sirius began walking away and they turned back to the lake. As the sun finally disappeared Harry heard the padding sound once more as Sirius retreated away in his Animagus form and the shadow of night fell over the grounds.  
  
* * *  
  
'Hey, daydreamer - you with us?' Ron's voice cut into Harry's thoughts as the countryside rushed past in a blur of hazy colours. Harry looked round to see Ron grinning like a loon with one of his eyebrows smoking, a deck of cards was scattered over their compartment and Fred's cheeks were a bit scorched.  
  
'Maybe when I bring a pack of Muggle cards,' he said reaching forward to pull a smoking card out of Ron's hair where it was threatening to set him alight.  
  
'I didn't think they'd allow such things on the Express,' Malfoy's drawling voice echoed into the compartment as he stepped around the doorway, Crabbe and Goyle at his side. 'There are enough filthy Mudblood things here already,' he said, sneering at Hermione before Ron stood up and interposed himself between the two. 'Back off,' he growled not caring or not noticing the cracking of knuckles coming from Crabbe and Goyle.  
  
'You don't want to do that anymore Weasley,' Malfoy spat, 'what good is it going to do the Mudbloods and Muggles when the Dark Lord comes back?'  
  
'He's had a whole year to do something about us,' Hermione replied, her voice icy and calm, 'and so far he hasn't managed a thing.'  
  
'Things change,' Malfoy snapped back, his hand moving swiftly to pull his wand out as Ron and the twins also drew theirs.  
  
'Stop.' Harry said softly, directed not to Malfoy but to Ron and his brothers. Ron turned in surprise, but Harry's eyes were focused on Malfoy's own in deep concentration.  
  
'Always the hero,' Malfoy muttered, but instead of taking advantage he also lowered his wand as Harry stood up and walked to the doorway, finishing opposite Malfoy. Pale blue met emerald as their eyes locked for a second before Malfoy spoke again, his voice dangerous and low. 'This could be your last chance Potter, I offered you my hand in friendship before and you refused, take it now.'  
  
Harry took his gaze away from Malfoy's face to stare calmly at the hand that was extended towards him. Before Malfoy could raise his wand again Harry had reached into his robes and drew Kilmorie's blade from within sending a flash of light over Malfoy's eyes as it reflected the sunlight from the windows.  
  
Kneeling swiftly Harry scored a line into the carpet in front of Malfoy that stretched across the doorframe and he rose just as rapidly. 'Cross it,' Harry whispered, his eyes matching the piercing gaze that Dumbledore used to his own great effect. Turning his back on Malfoy, Harry went back to his seat by the window and with his head in his chin continued staring out, the blade still in his other hand. Turning his head ever so slightly he winked at Ginny with a small smile, a gesture that no one else in the carriage noticed as Malfoy backed out, his eyes darting around in confusion.  
  
When Malfoy had gone Harry pulled the scabbard out of his robes and slid Kilmorie's dagger back inside, with a rueful glance he offered the blade to George. 'Give it to your dad, if Uncle Vernon finds it there'll be hell to pay.' George could only nod in silence while Ron, Hermione and Fred were still staring at Harry with a mixture of wonder and fear. 'How about that game?' Harry whispered with a small smile, breathing out a sigh Ron shuffled the rest of the deck together as the others handed him the cards.  
  
'Anything else you want to tell else about this year?' Fred asked as Ron started dealing out the cards.  
  
'Not right now,' Harry looked up and flashed a grin at everyone, 'I have to keep some secrets.' Fred grinned back as he picked up his cards, and everyone missed the wink that passed between Harry and Ginny.  
  
* * *  
  
In a rush of steam the Hogwarts Express pulled up to platform nine-and- three-quarters. 'Wait a second,' Harry whispered to Ginny as the others started filing out of the carriage and onto the platform, 'I have a brilliant idea.' He finished with a grin, then whispered into Ginny's ear until she was bright pink from giggling. Lifting her trunk down from the rack Harry balanced Pig's cage next to Hedwig's, much to her annoyance, and followed Ginny off the train.  
  
Piling Ginny's trunk onto Ron's trolley Harry saw Fred and George disappear through the gateway followed by Hermione and Ginny a few seconds later. With a nod from the guard Ron and Harry pushed their trolleys through into Kings Cross, blending into the crowd almost immediately despite the owls that adorned their trolleys.  
  
Looking around Harry was surprised to see Uncle Vernon exchanging a few words with Mrs. Weasley, until Fred and George arrived by them and he backed away hurriedly. Walking alongside Ron, Harry was in time to see George pass Mrs. Weasley a small bag that he'd slipped the dagger into. Splitting apart Harry stopped his trolley by Uncle Vernon, 'Go and say goodbye, boy' he said firmly, being careful to avoid looking at the Weasleys.  
  
Walking back over, Harry went to Fred and George first, smiling back at them as he approached. 'I'll see you during the summer?'  
  
'Who knows?' Fred asked, a grin springing onto his face.  
  
'We'll be off, far and wide,' George continued, matching his brother's expression. 'Thanks to a little help from our secret sponsor.'  
  
'Just remember to start producing those jokes some time,' Harry replied, grinning back at them, 'and to get Ron his dress robes.'  
  
'Mind if we charm them?' George asked, a wicked smirk appearing on his face.  
  
'I will.' Hermione cut in, punching George gently on the elbow before turning to Harry, and before he could say anything she put a hand over his mouth. 'Just take care of yourself,' she said with a smile on her lips.  
  
'I promise,' Harry replied with a grin as she hugged him, kissing her on the cheek in a return of the gesture from the year before. 'Look after yourself as well, and him if you're around.' He added the last part with a nod to Ron as he left his mum's side where Ginny was still being hugged. Shaking Ron's hand warmly Harry clasped his shoulder, 'Have a good summer,' they said at the same time prompting a grin from each of them. Standing back Ron took Hermione's hand in his despite the cooing noises the twins were making.  
  
Finally Ginny made her way through the throng, walking straight up to Harry and hugging him warmly, her eyes twinkling as she looked into his. 'See you in the summer as well,' Harry said, his voice wavering slightly as she smiled up at him.  
  
'Don't I get a kiss goodbye as well?' she asked, putting on a sweet voice that had the twins laughing and Ron grinning while she fluttered her eyelids outrageously.  
  
'If you insist,' Harry replied, and staring into her eyes as she put her arms around his neck, he gently brushed his lips against hers and enfolded her gently in his own arms. Holding her tenderly Harry was aware of the twins laughter suddenly stopping and Ron beginning to make a weird choking noise as Hermione let out a small giggle. Eventually he pulled out slowly letting his lips linger on hers for as long as possible before they parted.  
  
As they stepped apart there were two matching smiles on their faces, and Harry knew that Ginny's Liefgema would be dancing the same swirl of colours and light as his. Walking past the open-mouthed twins and the still gasping Ron, Harry let his eye catch Hermione's and saw her fighting back on a grin as Ron's eyes started darting between Harry and Ginny. Giving Mrs. Weasley a swift hug Harry felt her return it just a little longer than normal before she released him with a gentle push towards Uncle Vernon.  
  
Walking with slightly shaky steps Harry took the trolley handles and muttered quickly to Uncle Vernon, 'We need to go, very quickly.' Looking at him in surprise Uncle Vernon started walking alongside Harry, but a strange coughing and gagging noise made him turn around as Harry continued wheeling the trolley onward, if a bit faster.  
  
Turning back Vernon caught up to his nephew who was now moving at a brisk pace, 'Did you know that your friend is turning purple?' he asked, his moustache twitching in both irritation and amusement.  
  
'Just tell me you left the car running,' Harry quipped back as they walked out into the bustling streets. As he loaded his trunks into the boot Harry took a quick glance back through the window and into the station.  
  
Both the twins stood where they had been for the last five minutes, their mouths still open in slack-jawed amazement. Hermione and Mrs. Weasley were by Ron, Hermione trying to hold his shaking shoulders steady and Mrs. Weasley plucking his wand out of his hand as he tried to disentangle it from his sleeve. And standing by herself, soft brown eyes focused on Harry, was Ginny, the same small smile still on her lips as she watched him climb into the car, and followed it as they drove away from the station.  
  
'Good year?' Uncle Vernon grunted, his tone gruffly light for once.  
  
Harry turned and a rare smile was shared for a second between them. 'I can't wait for next year,' he replied. 


	27. Epilogue

Epilogue  
  
'What does he want?' Lucius Malfoy hissed urgently at Peter Pettigrew as they walked side by side.  
  
'The Dark Lord wishes to see you, and I'd think the reason why is perfectly obvious.' Pettigrew's eyes were hard as he spoke, his silver hand clenched into a fist before relaxing as they walked through the dimly lit corridor.  
  
Gulping back his fear Lucius followed Pettigrew through the double doors that led to the room Voldemort had taken in the deserted Muggle house he now occupied. The darkness of the room was oppressive, the only light source was a green glow that emanated from the Dark Lord's wand as he read through a sheaf of scrolls on his lap.  
  
Looking up his deep red eyes burnt into Lucius's for a second before he rolled the scrolls up and placed them on a table beside him. 'Thank you for answering my summons, my loyal cretins,' he intoned, the same mocking voice as ever, worsened since his return. 'Don't be afraid Lucius, while your abject failure does displease me I won't be demanding any.sacrifices on your part.' Voldemort added the last part with a glance towards the silver hand as a poisoned smile appeared on his face for an instant.  
  
Standing up Voldemort lifted his wand and walked to another table in the room, placing the wand beside another set of papers that lay scattered, his eyes drawn to a particular one. A second later they flashed back to Malfoy and Pettigrew, the former flinching slightly as they passed over him. 'The time has almost come for me to end this pointless war and to rid the world of Potter, I only hope your Cambirer and that fool Kilmorie did not give Dumbledore any clues.'  
  
'It matters not.' Voldemort continued. 'Soon the old fool will have more than enough to worry about and the child will be forgotten.' His eyes flashed in the dim light as he turned back to the table once more before returning his gaze to the two Death Eaters. 'It's time my servants. Kill them.'  
  
'Kill them all.'  
  
A/N: Hello all,  
  
At the end of this undeniably fun piece of fanfic I want to thank my betas Imogen (1-9) and Kat (10-E) and everyone who has read and enjoyed the Year of Silence. I've already got my ideas for a year six but that'll come when JKR has devised a whole new set of rules for us to have fun with :D.  
  
Once again, thanks to all, Yoda  
  
PS: Jenks will return! (Don't ask when) 


End file.
